Another Angle, Similar Story
by Obliviating the Oathkeeper
Summary: Xemnas is gone, but for some reason the King has summoned Sora, Riku, and Kairi back to Disney Castle. Picks up where KH2 leaves off. I'm updating this again, and expect at least a chapter a week, keep tuned in.
1. The End is the New Beginning

I do not own Square, Buena Vista, Sony, Nintendo, Retro Studios, Hal Laboratory, Funimation, or anything else other than the original characters I created for the stories.

Thank you, and enjoy.

The End is the New Beginning

A beautiful sunset was sinking over the ocean horizon. Viewing it, on a group of small islands, were two young men. They were both of average height, although one was taller than the other. The taller one had shoulder length silver hair, was wearing a vest, and had a pair of blue jeans on. He looked over at the other and said, "Hey Sora?"

Sora (the other boy) looked over at the first boy. Sora had spiky brown hair and deep blue eyes. His clothing was magnificently designed to fit his body perfectly, although they seemed to fit his preference of being a little baggy. He replied, "What is it Riku?"

"Everything's so quiet…nothing's changed has it?" Riku said.

"No," answered Sora, with a smile on his face, "Nothing ever will." Around them, tropical trees were blowing in the small breeze. There was a small shack just behind them. Suddenly, the door opened to the shack, and a girl, around the boys' age, burst our carrying a bottle in her hand. She was very pretty, had blue eyes and shoulder length reddish brown hair.

"Sora! Riku!" she cried out. "Come here, its important!" getting up instantly, the boys hurried over to where she was standing. She held out the bottle for them to look at. "Look at this!" she said excitedly. Sora looked at the bottle. Inside was a rolled up sheet of paper, that was kept rolled up by a seal that looked like a round face and two round ears.

"It's the King's seal!" Sora exclaimed, "Where did you find it Kairi?"

Kairi (for that was the girl's name) looked at him and said, "I found it on the beach, and I took it to the shack, but I couldn't get it open!"

"Take it out!" Riku said in an excited voice. Sora took the bottle and emptied the contents. He took off the seal, shoved it in his pocket, and unrolled the note. This is what it said.

"Dear Sora, Riku, and Kairi

"I understand that your vacation has been very short, and so for what I'm about to ask you, I deeply apologize. But a matter has come up of the utmost importance! Something that I have never dreamed of has happened. I cannot explain it on paper because if I tried I would have to fill three bottles! But I need you three to come down to Disney Castle right away so I can discuss the matter with you!

"P.S. Donald and Goofy say hi!

"Your Pal,

King Mickey"

After they had all finished reading it, Sora looked between them and said, "Well, what are we waiting for! Let's go together!" Riku and Kairi both smiled and nodded, and they each went to their huts to gather any belongings they were going to take with them.


	2. Another Angle, Similar Story

Another Angle, Similar Story

It was a beautiful day in Fate Oasis. The hot sun was almost completely blocked by the palm trees that could only grow there. There were small shacks along the lake, and each of them looked roughly the size of a small apartment building. Inside one of the buildings, was a rather tall boy, of about seventeen. He was very tan, mainly due to the hot desert sun. He had dark, almost black hair that looked as if it was almost grown out, but not quite all the way. The hair on the top of his head sat normal, but on the sides and back, it stuck straight up. He was wearing a pair of khaki shorts, had on a t-shirt with a star on it, and had a necklace with a crown on it. He was asleep, and was twitching as if he was having a bad dream.

The fact was, he was having a dream. Although, whether or not it was bad, he couldn't decide.

He was standing alone on a giant platform that looked like stained glass. Immeasurable darkness surrounded the platform and he couldn't see anything except the platform. There was nothing there, except him. After finally deciding that he couldn't see past the edge of the platform, he started to take in what he could see. The platform was richly decorated in bright colors, and in the very center was a mushroom. The stalk was white, with what appeared to be eyes, and the head was red with white spots. He walked over, taking in the rest of the platform. All around were other symbols, though not as significant. There was a one that was three golden triangles that came together to make a bigger triangle, there was large ToS and behind it was a red and blue circle. There was a spiky S in front of a circle that was made up of spirals, there was also a fox with wings, and a small ball with a red star in the middle. The very last one was fat star. As soon as he had taken them all in, he noticed movement behind him. As he turned, he saw a shadow moving quickly from the end of the platform towards him.

The boy started backing up, but not too far, as he realized there was only so much room before he would fall off the edge. And as the shadow was about to reach him, it stopped, and seemed to come out of the platform and make shape and form. It looked like a small bipedal creature, completely black, and had glowing eyes. There was very little space between it and himself. He looked back, and saw that behind him, floating in midair, were a sword, a shield, and a staff. Each of them had the mushroom from the floor engraved in them. He turned back and looked at the creature, and pinched himself. But he didn't wake up. This wasn't a dream. And he knew that the creature in front of him was not friendly. He turned round quickly, grabbed the sword, and turned to face the creature. But as he did so, the sword dissolved into his hand and arm, and was replaced by what looked like a giant key. He turned round, hoping that the staff would not do the same, and found that the staff had also disappeared, as had the shield.

He looked at the key. The hilt was golden, and the blade, which was sharpened on one side, rounded on the other, was silver. The end of the key, which should have unlocked a door, looked like a crown. He turned and faced the creature, his new weapon in his hand. And he lunged at it, easily destroying it with a single stroke of the blade. As the creature dissolved into the darkness, he heard a voice. It was deep, soothing, and forceful. The boy found that even if he had wanted to, he could not have drawn his attention away from the voice.

"Ward," it said, "The creature you have just destroyed is a being known as the heartless. They are a creature that have hearts and bodies, but are so corrupt and evil, that their hearts have blackened and become useless to them and their souls have left them. So they mindlessly seek out other peoples hearts, hoping to restore their own and in the process, making others join their ranks. Beware of them, for the blade which has now chosen you will attract them to you in swarms, droves, and armies. You see, that blade is the only thing that can set the heart of a heartless free. But they fear it, because this kills them, and only their hearts are set free, not their bodies. The heartless are a menace, and the blade in your hand has chosen you, Ward, to defeat them. Do so."

It took Ward a moment to realize that the voice was through. "Wait!" Ward yelled, "Why me? There aren't any heartless here now! Why did the key choose me?"

"The Keyblade has chosen you, for it believes you to be the best vessel for it. And as for there being no heartless. There is one here. Now. It is inside you. All your fears, angers, jealousy. Anything that would turn your heart black is now inside of you. But you must not let it out," and as the voice said this, Ward noticed that he now had a shadow. And it was constantly growing, until it filled the whole platform. It separated from him, and began to take form, just as the heartless had. "For if you do, it will be much harder to defeat on the outside, than it is on the in."

His shadow had grown enormous. No longer resembling him, no longer resembling a human, the gargantuan creature turned to Ward. Ward grasped the Keyblade in his hand so tightly that his fingers grew white. He stepped back, but then, through his own confidence and a nudge from the blade in his hand, he realized that the creature in front of him was nothing that he hadn't faced before. It was the embodiment of his own insecurities. It just looked more fearsome when it was outside of his own body. He ran and faced it head on. It extended a long arm, and quickly struck out at him, but Ward dodged with agility he had never had before, parried with his blade, and thrust it into the creatures knuckles. He then used the blade as a lift and pulled himself up onto the creatures arm. He pulled the blade out, and ran up the arm, and stood on the shoulder. He stared slashing at the creatures face, with such a force that it screamed a horrible cry in agony. It toppled off the edge, and fell. Ward stared down at it, and saw it dig a hand into the platforms side. The platform, which Ward only then noticed was only floating in the blackness, tilted sideways, and ward found himself slipping off. Panicked, Ward stuck his blade into the side of the platform, and held on with all his strength.

The creature was forming a large ball of energy with its hands, using its feet to cling to the side of the platform. It released the ball, which suddenly shot up at Ward. Ward, trusting his instincts and the Keyblade, pulled the blade out of the platform, did a flip in the air, and dove at the ball. When it looked like he was about to collide with it, he swung the blade and sent the ball flying back at the creature. The ball hit the monster, there was a blast of white, and the monster evaporated in a cloud of darkness. The darkness seemed to surround Ward as he landed on the platform. He couldn't see. He couldn't feel. And just as he was about to give into the darkness that surrounded him, a small beam of light shown, and the outline of a small, plump man could be seen. He extended a white gloved hand, and Ward desperately grabbed hold of it. He was pulled into the light.

Ward woke up. Sitting beside him was his best friends, Calub and Beth. Calub smiled at him and said, "Are you ok, man? You were shaking like a madman!"

Ward looked around him. There was no sign of the platform, the darkness, the creature. He half expected to hear the mysterious voice. But nothing. He looked over at Beth, and saw that she looked worried. A pain shot through his stomache, he did not like to see Beth looking so worried.

"No, just a bad dream is all," he replied. He got up and took in his shack. He had it decorated with random bottles. There was a piano in one corner. He looked at his friends. Calub was much shorter than him. He had reddish hair and was almost stocky. Beth was blonde, with blue eyes and was also much shorter than Ward. But Ward had yet to meet someone who was not shorter than he, so he didn't think much of it.

"Oh," Beth said, smiling, "We were worried there for a bit, we thought something was wrong!" Ward felt better when he saw her smiling. It was apparent that he liked her, but he could never tell her that. At least not yet.

"Hey Ward," Calub said, "the reason we're here is because Professor Gadd finally finished our dune buggy! We can head out and see what lies beyond the desert. We just have to pack, so we're gonna leave and go do that. Get packed and meet us at E. Gadd's place, all right?"

Ward was really excited by the news. "Yeah no problem!" he replied. They left, and Ward started putting clothing, food, and water into a large bag he had sewn just for the occasion. Next he gathered his desert traveling clothing, which consisted of a tunic, a stocking hat (which kept the sand out of his hair), goggles, and large boots. The inside of the tunic, hat, and boots was lined with a devise Professor Gadd had invented for them. It was a lining that never grew warm. It was constantly at a temperature of 68 degrees, which was very nice for traveling in the desert sun. After putting the goggles on, which made him look like an enormous bug, he set off for Professor Gadd's hut.

Professor Gadd was definitely the most unique person in Fate Oasis. He was very short, and very old. His head was almost completely bald, except for a tiny white patch in the middle that curled upward. He wore a white lab coat at all times, and had a pair of special glasses that made his eyes look like spirals. He had only moved in a year prior, and since then had become great friends with nearly everyone in the oasis due to his helpful inventions and creations. In one year he made life 12.5 (by his own calculations) easier for the denizens. Two months before this day, Ward, Calub, and Beth had wanted to leave the oasis and see the rest of the world. But they would never be able to cross the desert. Especially not alone. They were swimming in the lake, thinking about life beyond the oasis, when the Professor came up to them. He had a strange back pack on with a suction tube attached to it.

"Why the long faces?" he asked them when he saw them.

"Oh, nothing…" Ward replied. Then he noticed the backpack. "What's that, Professor?"

"Oh this?" asked the professor. "Well, my boy, that happens to be my latest invention! It's called the Poltergust! It's primary function is to suck up spirits, ghouls, and, to put it simply, ghosts! Although, I've mainly been using it to vacuum up my house, as there aren't any ghouls here. Well, I was going to test this baby out in the desert, see how much sand it can hold. I will talk to you later!" And with that, he was gone.

They watched him go for a while, when Calub smacked Ward on the shoulder and said, "Why didn't we think of it before?"

"Think of what?" Ward asked.

"Well, duh, why don't we have old E. Gadd make us something that can take us across the desert!"

Ward remembered asking the professor, the professor (who never turned down an opportunity to invent) gladly excepted, and now, two months later they were finally ready to go. He could hardly wait.

He skidded to a halt just outside the professor's hut. It was larger than most of the other huts, due to the fact that the professor needed more room to conduct experiments and the like. Just outside, was a giant dune buggy. It was big enough for four people to fit inside. Ward smiled as he saw Calub and Beth come from their own houses, each dressed in similar clothing. As they arrived, Professor Gadd came outside. He looked angry, and Ward could see why. He was covered from head, to foot in ashes, and smoke was billowing out from the open door, which he didn't shut so the smoke would exit his house.

"Bad news, I'm afraid," the Professor said disdainfully. Calub rushed over to the professor.

"Professor, are you ok?" he asked, "What happened?"

"I was testing out the fuel I was going to use on your buggy, which is a phenomenal success by-the-way, when I found out that I had miscalculated the amount I was going to put in my model airplane. It was very disproportionate to the airplane, and it blew up most of my cottage. But don't worry, I will have a fresh batch tomorrow. You are just going to have to put off the adventure for one more day. I am truly sorry, my friends."

"No no, professor," Beth said, "We're just glad you're ok!" Ward and Calub both nodded, but it was apparent that Calub would have liked to tell the professor something else. Both Beth and Ward grabbed him and pulled him away.

"You think the old man would be careful or something," Calub said. Beth turned round and smacked him.

"Calub, we should just be grateful that someone like the professor is around to help us out!" she said. "If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't be leaving tomorrow or the next day, or the day after that!" Calub still didn't look convinced. They went to the lake for the remainder of the day and played with some of the other kids at the oasis until the sun started to set.

A huge storm was brewing. It was massive, of catastrophic proportions. Ward was walking back to his hut, when it started raining. He heard laughter coming from the alley, and saw, to his immense surprise, the same creatures in his dream approaching him. Blacker than the night, they made the surrounding darkness look pale. And their glowing eyes pierced the blackness and sought him out. Ward was about to turn and run, when he saw something strange. Behind the creatures, was Calub. He was standing next to a large open door, which the creatures were coming in from. He seemed to radiate darkness. He turned to Ward and said, "Ward, are you coming?"

"What do you mean?" Ward asked.

"The darkness is calling us both, Ward," Calub replied. "Can't you hear it?" Ward could hear it, and he didn't like it. He started backing away, and as he did so, the darkness leapt out of the ground and swallowed Calub, who sank into the ground smiling. He looked up at Ward and said, "Either you join us now, or later, Ward. It will take you eventually." Then he disappeared. And to make it worse, the creatures had grown ten fold in number. Ward ran, and when he did, the blade from his dream, the Keyblade appeared. He started fighting the creatures, with that same agility and strength that he had gained in his dream flowing through his body. But he was no match for the number of monsters appearing. He started running for the lake, where Beth lived. When he got there, he saw not Beth, but a man in black.

"Who are you?" he asked the man. The man turned, although this didn't help, as his face was shrouded in darkness.

"Your oasis is on the edge of darkness," he said, in a cold calculating tone. "So close, that in mere seconds, it is going to be eclipsed." He laughed when he saw the look on Ward's face, which was a confused one. Then he turned, and walked by Ward without looking back.

"Where is my friend?" Ward asked.

"She found a door," the man stopped. "To where, I do not know. But if you wish to find her, I would suggest going through that door behind you." Ward turned around, and as he did he saw a huge shining white door. It took him a while to realize that the door was just stuck into the rock. It probably led to a cave in the rock, but where had it come from? He turned around and saw, not the enigmatic man, but immeasurable darkness coming for him. Remembering his dream, he ran toward the door, and when he opened it, a perpetual light shone forth. He stepped through, right as Fate Oasis dissolved into darkness.


	3. Of Plumbers and Princes

Of Plumbers and Princes

It was a beautiful morning in Nintendo Castle. The sun was shining on the green pipes. Goombas marched around the castle doing chores. And a small man in a bright green tunic, blue slacks with suspenders, and a green spiked helmet with a green L emblem was roaming around. He had silver shoulder guards over the tunic and on his back was a giant wooden mallet. He was wearing brown shoes, that looked rather springy, and on his face was a thick bushy mustache. Turning a corner, he met a dinosaur that was almost as large as he was.  
"Well, Yoshi," the man said, "How are you this morning?" He then noticed the dinosaur had a scroll in its saddle bag. He took it out and read it. As his eyes scrolled down the parchment, they grew wider and wider. Suddenly, he took off for the castle. He ran down the Great Hall, skidded around a corner, nearly knocking a koopa into the wall, and headed for the throne room. Princess Peach and Lady in Waiting Daisy were sitting, drinking tea. He screeched to a halt next to them, and stood, hand outstretched with the parchment.

"Luigi!" Daisy cried, "What's wrong?"

"Itsa letter from Prince Mario!" he said. Princess Peach took the paper and examined it thoroughly. At the end, she stood up, and faced the throne that the Prince usually occupied.

"Luigi," she said, her back turned on him, "If the Prince left in such haste and with no prior warning, then this is a serious matter. He asks of you a favor, as I'm sure you have read. Luigi, go out and find the Keyblader, and assist him in any way you can. Beware the Heartless, whatever they are, and guard your heart at all costs." Luigi saluted, but inside he was not so brave. He knew it was going to be a tough ride. "Popple and Birdo will have a Gummi ship ready for you, go get prepared to leave at once." Luigi turned, but was caught in an embrace by Lady in Waiting Daisy.

"Luigi," she said, a tear rolling down her cheek, "Do come back, won't you?" Luigi looked at her, a tear brimming in his own eye.

"Of course," he said, "My heart will lead-a-me home." And with that, he walked towards his room.


	4. The Universe Beyond

The Universe Beyond

Sora, Riku, and Kairi were in their Gummi, headed for Disney Castle. It felt like it was taking forever due to their excitement, the lack of action due to a very small amount of heartless, and the claustrophobic quarters of the gummi. The only thing that made the ride seem worth wile, was the fact that they were going to see their friends again. Sora couldn't wait to see the expression on Donald's face. He knew the duck wizard was going practically kill him in a hug.

"Are we there yet?" Sora asked, he yawned and leaned back in his seat.

"Almost," said Riku. He was piloting, "We probably have ten more minutes, as I just went past Radiant Garden." He zoomed around, blasted a single heartless that got in his way, and turned on the boosters. They were going amazingly fast, for such a small ship. Kairi, turned and looked at her friends. "What do you think it is, that the King would call us out of vacation?" she asked.

Sora had been asking himself the same thing, but couldn't think of an answer. He knew it wasn't because of the heartless, because there were not that much around anymore. Plus, the worlds now had strong warriors like Hercules, Aladdin, and even Captain Jack Sparrow (although Sora knew he would do it only for personal gain) to combat them. And the nobodies had been destroyed with the defeat of Xenmas, although that didn't mean they couldn't come back. But Sora doubted that the nobodies had come back in great enough numbers so soon. So why? Why where they headed for the castle?

And speaking of the castle…

"There it is!" Riku said excitedly. Sora knew why he was so happy. The King had helped Riku pull himself out of the darkness. The King was one of Riku's best friends. The Court Wizard, Donald Duck, and Captain of the Guards Goofy, had accompanied Sora in his part of the journey, and had also become to of the greatest friends Sora would ever have. They pulled into the gummi hanger, where Sora half expected to see the entire gang waiting for them. But no one was there except two excited chipmunks, one with a black nose, and the other with a red one. When the three teenagers stepped out of the gummi, the chipmunks immediately ran up and started bouncing.

"Chip!" Sora said, laughing, "Dale! How are you guys?"

"There's no time for that!" Dale cried. Sora could now see that they looked worried.

"What's wrong?" Riku asked, pulling out his Keyblade, the Way to the Dawn, "The Cornerstone isn't malfunctioning again, is it?"

"No," Chip replied, "We don't know what's going on, it could be really good, or really bad!" he cried. "The King is checking it out even as we speak! C'mon!" Sora, Riku, and Kairi ran through the garden and to the throne room. In there they saw the rest of the gang, and more. Goofy was guarding the door, while Donald, Merlin the Wizard, and The Great Yen Sid were staring at a strange portal. Queen Minnie and Lady in Waiting Daisy Duck looked on. When they came through the door, Goofy charged them, but when he saw who they were, he came even faster, dropping his shield, and grabbing Sora and squeezing him into a great bear hug.

"SORA!" he cried happily. Sora wrapped his own arms around his old friend and squeezed back. Goofy put Sora down, and hugged Riku and Kairi in the same way (though not as hard when he hugged Kairi).

"Goofy, what's going on?" Sora said, catching his breath. "The King summoned us, but why? Where is he?"

Goofy pointed over his shoulder at the portal that Donald, Merlin, and Yen Sid had not bothered to look away from even at the arrival of the three guests. "He's in that there portal, but gawrsh, we don't know exactly where it leads. Yen Sid reckons it leads to a new world…but he couldn't go check it out himself, cause the three wizards are going to need to pull the king back out when he is ready. I gotta stand and watch this door, though, cause whatever lies beyond that door is powerful, and its probably already caught the attention of Maleficent and Pete."

"But shouldn't the Cornerstone prevent their entrance into the castle?" Kairi asked.

"Well, the King said he didn't wanna take no chances," Goofy replied, shrugging his shoulders. At this point, Queen Minnie and Lady in Waiting Daisy Duck came to them. Sora, Riku, and Kairi all bowed (although Kairi curtsied).

"I assume Goofy has filled you in?" the Queen asked.

"A-hyuck," Goofy chuckled, "I sure have!"

"Good! Well, it's wonderful to see you again, and even better to meet you two finally," she added to Kairi and Riku. Riku smiled, and Kairi blushed.

"How long has the king been in the portal?" asked Riku.

"Three hours!" Daisy replied. There was an awkward silence after these words. Sora looked at the others, who (even Goofy) looked worried.

"Hey don't worry," Sora said, "It's the King we're talking about here!" he replied, confidence in his voice. "If anyone can handle it, its him!" The others all nodded and smiled at the words. But then something happened that made them all jump. Yen Sid had spoken.

"Donald, Merlin, ready yourselves…the time has come!" he said. Donald and Merlin nodded. Donald pointed his staff, Promptly named Save the Queen, at the door. Merlin pointed his wand. And Yen Sid drew out his arms. As one, they cried, "MAGNAGA!" A powerful force started to draw everything in the room that was not bolted down, namely the other people in the room, towards the wizards. Sora grabbed Kairi and started gliding through the air, barely keeping up with the magic. Riku grabbed the Queen and Daisy and did the same. Goofy was using his Tornado attack (which gave him great speed) to not only relfect the spell away from him, but to the others, making it easier to glide. All of a sudden, four white gloved hands reached out of the portal. Then two heads, then two bodies. Two people came flying out of the portal and landed on a heap in the floor.

They stood up, one faced the group of people, while the other looked at the portal, back turned to the group. The one looking at the group was none other than King Mickey. When he saw Sora, Riku, and Kairi, he ran towards them, and hugged them. Donald fell on the ground, cleary spent. Merlin was catching his breath, and only Yen Sid seemed unflaunted by the magic. The mysterious man was still surveying the portal. Yen Sid gave him one look before turning towards the King.

"So my young apprentice," he replied. "What did you find, another world?"

The King withdrew from his embrace. He walked to the other man, who still did not offer the courtesy of turning around. The King looked at Yen Sid and said, "No master, not just a world, but an entire Universe! It's like a parallel dimension to our own! The worlds are different, as are the people, but they are going through the same conflict we were a few years ago! The heartless are taking over their worlds over there, and the Keyblade master has just been chosen!"

"So," Merlin said, now completely healed, "Are you saying you found a new group of worlds?"

"I think I can explain it better with the help of my new friend," the King said, placing his hand on the shoulder of the man (who was not much bigger than the King himself). The man turned around for the first time, and they saw him.

He was short, as they could tell from the back, but his face was a little eccentric. He was pudgy, blue eyed and had a red hat on with an M emblem on it. There was a big bushy black mustache under his round nose that covered most of his face. He was wearing nearly the exact same garment as the king, the only difference being his pants were blue and had suspenders. He had brown shoes that looked like they were built for jumping.

"Fellas," the king said, "Meet my friend, and counterpart, Prince Mario."

"Hello, friends of Mickey!" he said. His voice was jubilant and merry, and he smiled at them all. Both he and Mickey held out their arms, (Mickey's right, Mario's left) and Keyblades appeared. But they were both the exact same, a silver hilt, golden blade that looked like the Kingdom Key, but with inverted colors. Sora stared.

"They're the same!" he exclaimed.

"Well, of course," Mario said with a smile, "We are counterparts!"

"What do you mean by counterpart?" Riku asked. Mario looked at him, smiled and said to the King, "Ah, It's-a your own Keyblader, no doubt?" The King smiled and nodded. He then addressed Sora.

"You see Sora, the universe beyond is parallel to this, as we are parallel to it." he explained. "Everyone in this room has their own counterpart in the other universe. We exist on the same plane of existence, and our worlds are intertwined with each other. And you're going to lave this, the one thing that ties the universes together…is Kingdom Hearts."

'Kingdom Hearts?" Riku asked. The King nodded.

"You see fellas, while our universe was having trouble with all the heartless and nobodies, the other was prospering. But after we defeated Xenmas, and after Ansem the Wise wounded Kingdom Hearts, it opened this portal. There are two of them. One here, because it is the one world in both universes that are nearly identical. And the other is in Kingdom Hearts. When it was wounded by Ansem's machine, many Heartless escaped Kingdom Hearts, but many more made their way to the portal, thus starting the exact thing that we worked so hard to end!"

Sora was taking it all in. Somewhere in the other universe, a young boy was going through exactly what he had gone through. For some reason, he wanted to help that boy very much.

"Your Majesty," Donald Duck said, finally joining the group, instead of addressing King Mickey, he was talking to Prince Mario. The Prince looked at him and smiled. "Who is my counterpart in your universe?" Mario looked between Goofy and Donald.

"You two are no doubt the Court Magician and Captain of the Guards?" Mario asked. Both nodded. "Well there is one person who is a counterpart to both of you. It is my brother, Luigi, who plays both rolls. In fact, I have left him a letter telling him to find the Keyblader and assisting him on his quest. Luigi is capable, but he needs to find his own light. He has trouble recognizing his own courage. I hope that in this battle to come, he will not only help fight alongside Ward, but also to find his own courage."

"Ward?" Sora asked, "Is that my counterpart?" Mario nodded.

"I have met him once, when I pulled him from the darkness. He was confronting his own evils, and had won, but the darkness was overtaking him. I pulled him out, and he thought it was all a dream. However, shortly after his world was thrown into darkness by Ward's friend Calub, who gave in." Riku shifted uncomfortably, having finaly learned about his own counterpart. Sora thought that it was all too familiar, remembering the exact thing, only it being Kairi that pulled him out.

"Yes, yes, this is all interesting and I shouldn't wonder that eventually I am going to want to study this portal, and your universe thoroughly," said Merlin, "But what are we going to do about this?" he asked the royalty. The King and Prince looked at Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

"Well fellas, how are you feeling about getting into one last adventure?" he asked. Sora looked between his friends. He smiled. "Yeah! Donald, Goofy, Riku, Kairi, and I could help out my counterpart!" He said.

"I was hoping you would say that," Mario said. He turned to the Portal, and looked back over his shoulder. "Lets-a go!" he cried and jumped through. The King followed, closely followed himself by Goofy and Donald.

Sora looked back at the queen, a question rising. "Who's going to stay here and guard you all?" He asked.

"They hired some people you can trust." came a familiar, cool and calculating voice. They turned around and saw Auron and Cloud standing in the doorway.

"Cloud! Auron!" Sora exclaimed. They looked at him, and only Auron smiled.

"We'll be taking over your position as hero in chief while you are gone," Cloud replied.

"Is that humor coming from you, Cloud?" asked Auron.

"Don't get used to it," came Cloud's reply. He looked at Sora and said, "If you see my counterpart, tell me what his Sephiroth is like.

"Can do," said Sora. He turned to his friends and said, "Shall we go together?" They held hands and walked through the portal.


	5. Traverse Town

Traverse Town

Ward was sitting in a dark alleyway. He was unconscious, and having a strange dream, a dream about Calub being sucked into darkness, and Beth. Beth was in a strange room, half lit up, and half dark. When he called out to her, she couldn't hear him. All of a sudden, he felt a strange wetness on his face. Beth was disappearing. He reached out, and as he was about to touch her, he woke.

The first thing he noticed, was a large green…thing. It looked like a lizard, only it had a huge happy smile on its face. He stared at it, not wanting to become lunch. It stuck out its sticky tongue and licked him again. Ward stood up and said, "You're not going to hurt me, are you, little guy?" he stroked its neck, and it ran off. "Wait!" he yelled, but it didn't listen to him. He followed it, and when he turned the corner, he saw that he was in a city. A big city that he had never been in before. He walked in the middle of the streets, and took in the silence. He had never been to a city, but he had always heard about the constant movement and action of the cities. This was exactly the opposite of what he had always heard. He walked up to a door, and pulled on the handle, but it was locked. No movement could be heard on the inside. As he walked over, a large clock tower shone overhead. As he looked at it, he heard movement for the first time. He turned around, and saw to his dismay, the dark creatures. Instantly the Keyblade sprung to life in his hand, and he leapt forward to fight. He slashed one, jumped over another (dicing it in the process), and came down hard, his feet smashing another into the ground. Spinning round, he sliced and diced until his hands were tired, and sweat was dripping off his brow. But they wouldn't stop coming. Eventually, he fell on the ground, sitting upright, and staring at them as they came closer.

A thin sword sliced the night sky apart. Disappearing and reappearing among the creatures, was a man. On Earth, he would have been easily recognized as having Asian descent. He wore dark armor, had long black hair tied into a ponytail, and was vicious. He tore through the creatures like they were paper, and in seconds they were gone. The man turned, and said, "As long as you carry that," here he pointed at the keyblade, "They will come for you."

Ward stared at the man, "What are they?" he asked. He knew what they did, but could not recall their names.

The man stared at him, his face emotionless. "The Heartless," he replied. He turned and said, "Come with me." They started walking down the street together, and ward looked at the man, taking in his less noticeable features. He had two burns on his arms, one was an F, the other an H.

"Who are you," Ward asked the man. The man looked down.

"Garam," he replied. He walked on. Ward didn't ask where he was going. For Garam's attitude, he seemed to be a man who could be trusted. Garam led him to a small building that wasn't any more special than any of the others around it, and when he came to the door, a woman with black hair came out. Ward thought that she was beautiful, but the minute he did, a pain twinged his heart, and he thought about Beth. The woman looked between Garam and Ward, then turned to Garam and asked, "Who's your new friend, Cyan?"

Garam looked as if he had been stricken, but then quickly recovered. "I told you to call me Garam." He said. She shook her head and turned to Ward.

"It's nice to meet you," she replied, smiling. "My name is Rinoa." She extended her hand. Ward accepted.

"My name's Ward," he said. He looked around the town, then turned back to Rinoa and asked, "Where am I?" Rinoa suddenly looked sympathetic, and turned to Garam.

"Where did you find him?" she asked, concern in her voice.

"He was in the square," Garam replied. "He was battling more heartless than he could defeat."

"A boy his age?" Rinoa looked down at Ward, "You must be made out of tougher stuff than you look!" she replied with a smile. Ward felt a little hot under the collar at this remark. He wasn't so young.

"The only reason he had to fight as many as he did," Garam said, his voice never breaking out of its calmness, "Was because of the heartless magnet he carries." Seeing the confused look on Rinoa's face, he replied, "The Keyblader has finally arrived." Rinoa looked down on Ward in surprise.

"You?" she asked incredulously.

"What?" Ward asked, his temper rising at her assumptions that he was not worthy. "You think I can't handle it? Then TAKE IT!" The Keyblade sprung to life in his hand and he threw it at the ground at Rinoa's feet. He turned and started walking away. "I don't even want it!" he yelled over his shoulder. "I want to go home, and now!"

But suddenly, as he kept walking, he felt a strange sensation, as once again his hand would not close. And just like it never left, the keyblade was back in his hand. He stared at it. From behind, Garam said, "That blade has chosen you, whether you like it or not. You don't decide when it leaves. It does. And as for your home…" but he was cut off by Rinoa.

"I think I ought to be the one to tell him," she replied. She walked over and put her hand on his shoulder. "Come inside…I've got a lot to tell you." Ward followed her inside. The inside was decorated with various things, one of which was a detailed drawing on the wall. It was a man with longer brown hair. He was frowning, and had a scar that ran down the left side of his nose. In his hand, was a strange combination of a gun and a sword. The gun being a revolver that a cowboy would use. Ward took a seat in a chair, and noticed sounds coming from the kitchen. Someone was cooking.

Rinoa took a seat next to Ward, and noticed what he was looking at. She smiled and said, "I don't know who he is, but I know he is troubled. I see him in my dreams…and I hope one day that I meet him, and can help him. I don't even know his name." and for the first time in two days, Ward felt sympathetic for someone. Rinoa looked over to the kitchen.

"Quina!" Rinoa called into the kitchen, "Make us some tea, this boy is going to need something hot." A strange, garbled voice answered.

"Yes friend Rinoa! Would new friend enjoy yummies? Or just tea?" it said.

"Just tea please, although you can start cooking dinner!" she called back smiling.

"Who…" Ward started, but Rinoa interrupted him.

"Its name is Quina Quen. We haven't gotten a straight answer as to where it came from. And we do know one thing. If it couldn't cook, it wouldn't be sitting here. When we found it, we thought it was a heartless, and Cy-I mean Garam almost killed it. But then we noticed a delicious smell, and it gave us some of the best pasta I've ever had. It's been annoying at times, but there is no denying that it can take anything edible in the world, and turn it into delicious food. But you wont understand until you see it." She finished, and then looked sad.

"I have bad news for you, Ward," she said. "You see, this town is a refuge to those who have lost their worlds to the darkness. Some people are closer to the heart of the world than they realize, and when the world succumbs, they are pulled through the door, and wind up here. But everyone in this town has one thing in common. Our worlds were destroyed by the darkness. All that is left, or so I've heard, is little fragments that gather in the Realm of Darkness."

"The what?" Ward asked.

"The Realm of Darkness," she replied. It's the antithesis of our universe. What's light in this world is dark in that. And when the light goes out in our world, what's left goes to the darkness."

"But," Ward said, his brain and stomach now reeling, "If I'm here…does that mean…"

"It means your home is gone," She said after a moment's painful silence. Ward stared at the floor. Fate Oasis. For the last year and a half he had wanted to travel out and go visit other worlds. Now all he wanted was to go back and be with Beth.

Beth…

The man had said, "She found a door…I don't know to where…"

What if it was here…

What if she was here?

And Calub…

He had given in. Did that mean he was now in the Realm of Darkness?

Suddenly, a bright pink and white thing distracted Ward from his thoughts. He looked over to see an odd creature indeed, but how anyone could have mistaken it for a heartless was beyond him. Heartless were pitch black, and reeked of evil. This thing, Quina, was bright pink and white. It had an apron on, and a chef's hat. Perhaps the most peculiar thing about it, was its enormous tongue, which stuck out long and looked like it hadn't seen the inside of the creatures mouth in years.

"Tea is ready!" it said. Ward was still taking in its eccentric appearance when a new thought came to him.

"What's Garam's story?" he asked. Rinoa smiled sadly.

"Think of how sad you are at your own world's destruction," She replied, causing a pain to shoot through his heart. "Now imagine what you would feel like if you thought it was your fault. That is what Garam is going through. When the heartless entered his world, he fought with the rest of the warriors in his castle, in the Land of Doma. But the heartless snuck up the river and blended with the water. One morning, he woke up to find the people of Doma, including his wife, child, King, and friends all turning into heartless. Once they drank the water, they became heartless. He was the only one who hadn't drank that day, and although he tried to warn anyone he could about the heartless in the water, he reached no one in time.

"He was so upset about it, that he changed his name in shame. His real name is Cyan Garamode. But he will not go by that name until Doma is restored, and his people have their hearts back."

"That's why he's so serious." Ward thought out loud.

"Yes, and don't ever tell him I told you this," She told him. It was hard enough to get him to open up to me that much, I wouldn't want to lose his trust now.

'It must be nice to have someone who cares about you,' thought Ward, and as he thought this, once again, Beth entered his mind. He stood up.

"I'm going to go out and look for my friends," he said, "And I'm starting in this town." Rinoa smiled, and nodded. She shook his hand again as he headed for the door. He headed into the street, not knowing the adventure ahead of him.


	6. Plumber in the Big City

Plumber in the Big City

"Should we park here, my love?" Birdo replied to Popple. The shadowy little man looked through his mask at the Pink dinosaur with the rounded mouth.

"Y…Your LOVE?" he asked incredulously. "I told you to call me Popple, the Great!" he barked. "And yes, this will be fine!" they brought it down in a little square of Traverse Town. Luigi gulped as the hatch opened.

"Take care, Rook!" Popple called after him as Luigi stepped out. Luigi looked around at the dark buildings, made even gloomier by the dark sky. He walked down the alley way, and came to the street beyond. Not a soul was present. He unsheathed his mallet and started walking carefully on the sidewalk. He didn't know what the heartless were, what they looked like, or anything, so caution was definitely needed. He heard movement behind him, and jumped, blasting a trash can lid that had fallen off its can with a blast of icy magic. Seeing his mistake, he chuckled in a scared sort of way. He made his way to a building with a mushroom on it. He walked inside, and saw that it was an item shop. He walked to the counter and put his munny pouch on it. The shop owner didn't seem to be anywhere near. Suddenly, a door opened, and a small cat with a red cape and a crown came into the room.

"Oh!" it said, in a squeaky male's voice, "I didn't think I'd have customers today! What with the heartless everywhere!" He bounded up to the counter and jumped over to the clerk's side. "What'll it be, Greenie?" he asked.

"It's-a LUIGI!" Luigi corrected, "And I'll take three mushrooms, and a Flower."

"No problem, Luis," the cat said. "My name's Reeve, nice to meet ya."

"Its-a Luigi!" Luigi corrected again.

"Right-o," said the cat. It was really starting to annoy Luigi, and he just wanted his items so he could get out and look for the keyblader. "You know," the cat said, "I'm not really a cat!" This caught Luigi's attention.

"Oh really?" Luigi retorted, "Cause you-a look like a cat to me."

"Nope," Reeve replied, handing Luigi his items, "I'm a human, I just use this as a decoy. It allows me to operate in the open, cause the cat doll doesn't have a heart. The heartless just ignore it!"

"Fascinating," Luigi replied. He walked out the door, looked back and said (out of the goodness in his heart) "Nice to meet you, too, Reeve!"

"See ya Larry!" It yelled as the door shut.

Luigi put his new items in his hip pouch and walked through the streets. 'How am I going to find this guy?' he thought, 'He could be anyone, anything for that matter!' and as he walked by a certain house, he smelled the sweet aroma of pasta. Spaghetti to be exact. He walked to the door and knocked, his stomach growling. The door was answered by a pretty woman of black hair.

"Jeeze!" she said, "Two new ones in one day? It's getting bad out there, isn't it?" she asked. Luigi knew what she must be referring to.

"No no," he replied, "My world isn't going to be taken by the Heartless for a long time. I am a personal envoy from The Mushroom Kingdom, sent by Prince Mario of Nintendo Castle. I'm his brother, the court wizard, captain of the guards, and of course friend, Luigi."

"Oh!" she said, "Well, come in, have some food!" she looked over her shoulder, "Quina!" She yelled, "Get this man some spaghetti!" she looked back at Luigi and said, "My name's Rinoa," she finished.

"Do you live here alone, with Quina?" Luigi asked after Quina had entered, carrying the huge tray of delicious looking pasta. Luigi started eating immediately.

"No," she replied. "I have a couple of friends, one is in the basement, where he operates his stupid toy cat…"

"Reeve?" he asked.

"You know him?" Rinoa asked curiously.

"I just purchased items from his cat," Luigi said with a laugh, "I would like to meet him for real before I go."

"Luigi?" came a voice, and a handsome man in an expensive suit came up from downstairs. "I'm sorry about messing up your name, I have a lot of work before I get the translator right on the cat," he said. He stepped forward and shook Luigi's hand.

"Who else lives here," Luigi inquired, seeing a helmet that would have looked slightly out of place on the heads of anyone else in the room.

"Garam," Reeve said, shrugging his shoulders. "He goes out on patrol every night, finding more people who become stranded, and find them homes."

"We're lucky he found who he did tonight!" Rinoa said with a smile. Luigi had a mouth full of pasta when he answered sloppily.

"Whothat?" he said.

"The Keyblader!" Reeve said excitedly. Luigi swallowed his pasta so fast that his eyes watered from it.

"The Keyblader is here? For sure?" he asked quickly. Rinoa nodded.

"He arrived a half hour or so before you did. He said he was going to look around the town for his friends. How come you're so interested?" she asked.

"That's why the Prince sent me!" he answered. "He wants me to assist the Keyblader in anyway I can! I have to find him!"

"Well," Rinoa said, looking thoughtful, "I know he didn't leave the city. He wouldn't have a means to. So you're bound to find him eventually." Luigi stood up quickly.

"I've-a gotta go!" he said, letting his Italian accent slip in his excitement. "It was nice meeting you all!" They all nodded, and Luigi tore through the door.

Ward had looked. And looked. And looked. But she wasn't anywhere. He didn't see a building that looked like it could have been lit up on the inside like the one in his dream was, and he wasn't about to burst into someone's home without permission. He was getting frustrated, and to make matters worse for him, the heartless would not leave him alone. But there was a good thing about it. He was starting to get a technique down to defeating them faster. He figured out weak points. He went for them. He was getting stronger.

He found himself in front of the clock tower. He was standing in a large square, buildings surrounding himself and the tower. He was going to go into the tower to look, when once again the keyblade sprung into his hand, and heartless surrounded him.

Luigi was walking on a ledge above the street. He had been searching for an hour, and still no sign of the keyblader. In fact, he had not seen another living soul since he left Rinoa's place. He hadn't even seen a heartless yet, but that was due to the fact the Keyblader was around. They were probably after him, Luigi thought. He looked down to see a boy surrounded by dark-as-the-night beings. They had glowing eyes. He was about to jump off the ledge and help the boy, but suddenly he saw himself facing the black things himself.

"So these are the heartless," he thought out loud. He gripped his mallet tightly and said, "Let's see what you've got!" A heartless appeared directly under him. Surprised, Luigi went flying over the edge, and landed on the boy.

"Would you get off me?" the boy yelled. Luigi pulled himself off, and they stood back to back, the heartless surrounding them.

"Ready to fight?" the boy asked.

Luigi gave a smile, "Okie Dokie!" he said. Alone, the heartless may have prospered. But together they were unstoppable. Luigi would freeze a group, and they boy would slice through them with his strange weapon. Many times, Luigi would bat them at the boy, and he would swing his blade like a baseball bat, slicing each one. The boy screamed their weaknesses to Luigi during the height of the battle, when more than one hundred were attacking at once. Soon, they stopped multiplying. Sooner still, they started losing numbers. Finally, with a satisfying slicing noise, the last heartless was gone.

Just when they thought it was over, a great blackness appeared. Out of the ground came a heartless unlike the ones they had ever seen. It wasn't small. It was enormous. Metal plating covered most of its body, and it growled as it took form, and faced them. Luigi looked at the boy, nodded, and jumped swinging his hammer as hard as he could. The hammer barely dented the creatures armor. The shock of the blow sent Luigi flying and shaking twenty feet away.

"NO!" the boy cried. He jumped in, and found that his weapon, though leaving a much larger dent, did about as much damage as the mallet. It turned and hit the boy, sending him flying. The boy landed on the ground. It was fast as lightning, and Luigi (still regaining his focus) stared blankly for a second as the boy barely managed to deflect each blow. Then the shock wore off, and Luigi rejoined the battle.

"Hey!" The boy cried to Luigi, "I've got an idea!"

Luigi bashed his mallet against the heartless's face, only loostening the helmet's jaw brace. He landed, jumped out of the way of its giant arms, and said, "I'm listening!"

"Stand a safe distance away," The boy said, using his blade to trip the monster. "And start freezing the armor!" Luigi caught on and ran back twenty yards, aimed his mallet, and shot a Blizzard at the creature. It his the chest plate, and it froze solid. The boy smacked the chest plate, and shattered it. The monster, aware of his exposed weakness, switched from offense to defense. He started blocking the blows rather than giving them.

"Aim for the helmet!" the boy cried.

Luigi tried a few times, and only managed to freeze a shoulder guard, some leg armor, and finally wheezing from the energy that was being drained from him, he hit the helmet. The creature roared as its head was suddenly caught in an icy tomb. But he was quickly freed by the boy, who swung his blade viciously. It went through the helmet, the head of the beast, and out the other side. The beast writhed on the ground, twisting and squirming, unable to get up. He soon disappeared, and a giant heart escaped him, and vanished.

Both Luigi and the boy were panting. They turned and faced each other.

"My name's Ward," the boy said, smiling. "Thanks for helping me out there!"

"Name's Luigi, and no problem," Luigi replied, smiling back. "I take it you are the Keyblader?" Ward looked at the blade in his hand, and frowned.

"Yes…but I don't know what to do with it!" he replied.

"I do," Luigi replied. Luigi explained where he came from.

"And Prince Mario knows what I am supposed to do with the keyblade?" Ward asked Luigi after Luigi finished.

"Of course!" Luigi replied, "He has one as well!"

"Well?" Ward asked, "What is it then?"

"Simple," Luigi replied shrugging, "You have to go through the worlds, finding the heart of each, and locking it, thus preventing anymore heartless from getting in."

"And how do I lock the worlds?" Ward asked. Luigi smacked his head.

"With the keyblade, of course!" he explained. "It will show you what to do when the time comes. Now, before we go to my ship…" but Ward interrupted him.

"Your ship?" Ward asked. "What do you mean?"

"The Gummi Ship! It's how I travel from world to world! And it's how we are going to go save the worlds from the heartless!"

"So you're coming with me?" Ward asked smiling, and extending his hand. Luigi grasped it.

"Of course!" he replied. And with that, they walked to the Gummi.

PS

For those of you wanting to know, yes, you will meet the villains counterparts in chapter seven!

"The Hearts are powerful, and unpredictable. But no one has covered the Stars yet!"


	7. Villains United

Villains United

At the very end of the Mushroom Kingdom, past the land of Nimbus, and Moleville, lies the Koopa Kingdom. It is a land of despair. Dangers lurked around every corner before the heartless came, and now with the heartless, it was even worse. At the very heart of the Koopa Kingdom, lies Bowser Castle. Enormous in size, and rivaled only by Nintendo Castle, it is filled with traps, dungeons, and monsters. The ruler of this kingdom, is a koopa so ferocious and evil, that he became the King of the Koopas. His name, is Bowser.

Bowser trodded through his castle, followed closely (as always) by the old Magikoopa, Kammy. Tonight was a special night, Bowser was meeting some old friends, and some new friends. He liked the idea that Cackletta had come up with, even though he did not like her. She was a batty old witch, and like all batty old witches, he considered them stupid hags. But there was no denying that the idea she had come up with was nothing short of pure genius. Why he hadn't thought of it, was beyond him. But he knew that he wouldn't be able to pull it off alone, no matter how much he wanted to.

He made his way to the throne room, where the meeting was going to be held. When he walked in, he saw three people. One, was Cackletta herself. She was dressed in her robe of purple, and had her horn headdress on. The other, he recognized immediately, even though the man's back was turned on him. It was none other than Ganondorf. The third person (or thing) was a purple pterodactyl-like creature. They were not talking to each other, and just waiting, apparently for the right moment to discuss things. Bowser greeted them.

"Friends," he said to Ganondorf and the pterodactyl. Then he addressed Cackletta. "And hag," he said with a sneer.

"Bowser," she replied with mock respect in her voice, "I just love what you've done with the castle! The lava is sure to stop any intruders! Why the Prince must be scared to death when he comes here." Bowser growled.

"Calm yourselves," replied Ganondorf. "We cannot expect to come out the victors if we keep arguing. We must band together to achieve our goals."

"You speak truth, and wisdom," the pterodactyl said, "Not something the women of your tribe would do." Ganondorf ignored him.

"And who are you?" Bowser asked.

"I am Ridley," the pterodactyl said. "I am but a humble servant to the mother brain, whom you requested to come here. Unfortunately, she cannot make it due to a…mobility problem…and I am to act as her eyes and ears at our little…meetings."

"Quite intelligent for an animal," Bowser replied sarcastically.

"It's a shame the same can not be said for you," Ridley sneered back. Bowser growled again, and smoke escaped his nostrils. Ridley readied himself for battle, but Ganondorf stepped between them.

"ENOUGH!" he said, drawing his swords. Bowser and Ridley had both heard of his power, and did not want anything to do with him. Even together, they probably were not strong enough to defeat him. The looked at each other, and then turned away.

"Where are the others, Bowser?" asked Cackletta. "You said that the others were going to show."

"They'll be here!" Bowser said. And as he said it, the doors opened, and there stood some of the worst villains the worlds had ever known. King K. Rool, Grodus, Andross, Yggdrasill, King Debede (and Meta Knight was with him). Bowser welcomed them all in, and they gathered round the table at the throne.

"You all know why we are here," Cackletta said. "We are here to discuss the terms of which we will capture the Princesses of Heart. We know of all the princesses, except one. She has eluded my knowledge for many years, but with the numbers of Heartless at my disposal, she will be easier to find. She will have to let herself known eventually."

"Who are the Seven," K. Rool interrupted. "I only know of Pauline, and she's been hard to get at, as she has that stupid Donkey Kong at her side, all the time!"

"The seven Princesses are Pauline, Peach, Daisy, Samus, Zelda, and Collette," She replied. "The last one has alluded me, which is frustrating me, as she is supposed to have come from my own world."  
"It's not technically your world," replied Debede, "You took it over, but you didn't originate there."

"That is true," She said, "But I have spent the last few years of my life there, and I don't see how she could have slipped past my henchmen. Now we have more urgent business to attend to. K. Rool, you will obviously be the one to catch Pauline. Use the Heartless to keep the monkey busy. Debede and Meta Knight, you will turn the creatures of your world into heartless to assist in my domination. Bowser, I am trusting that without the wretched Prince here, you should have no problem in catching Peach and Daisy. But just in case, Grodus will assist you." Bowser looked over at the half metal moon man. He seemed powerful. Bowser turned to Cackletta and nodded. "Ridley, You and the Mother Brain will have a hard time, but I know you will defeat Aran, especially with the heartless on your side."  
"Without a doubt," Ridley said, a grin spreading across his face.

"And that leaves you, Ganondorf. You will be the one to collect Zelda. And yours is probably the easiest one, as you don't have any objectors to fight against."

"And what are you going to be doing while we are you breaking our backs for you?" Grodus asked. Cackletta looked at him and replied, "Well, I need to do more and more research until I find out who the last key is! Yggdrasill will handle Collette. Not too hard, as she is already turning into a vegetable as we speak." She finished with this.

"The Prince is gone, and so is his blade. Now is the time to strike back at he who inflicted such hardships and despair upon us long ago! Come Brethren, fight with me!" She yelled. The others in the room yelled their agreement. Only Ganondorf seemed upset.

"And what about the Keyblader?" he asked, ominously. Everyone in the room stopped cheering and looked at him.

"Do you mean the Prince?" asked Yggdrasil.

"No, I mean the new one. The one who was just chosen. I recently met with a dark figure. He wouldn't tell me his name…he was shrouded in darkness," Ganondorf replied, "He told me that the new Keyblader had been chosen, and that the Prince had already gotten to him."

"Nothing to worry about," Cackletta replied viciously. "I have two people who could easily take care of him, especially if he is new to it." She looked over her shoulder, and called, "Calub! Fawful! Your time is now!"

In walked a young boy, a boy who used to have friends on Fate Oasis. Shrouded in Darkness, and wearing a jumpsuit with the heartless brand, he stood next to Cackletta. Followed closely, was a smaller man, dressed entirely in a red cloak and had goggles on that made his eyes spiral (or maybe they spiraled normally). He was wearing a special headgear that let him fly, suck up matter, spit out energy balls, the like. But everyone in the room saw these two and tensed up a little. They knew that despite appearances, these two were fearsome creatures.

"I will send you, Calub after the Keyblader," she replied. "Considering you appear to know him."

"Yes," Is all Calub said.

"Good. Turn him, and his pathetic friend, brother of the Prince, to the darkness. Should you fail, then I will send Fawful." The little man giggled insanely.

"And I shall spread the Mustard of Doom across the pitiful Salami he calls life! I HAVE FURY!" he screamed. Cackletta smiled at him.

"Yes," She replied. "Yes you shall."

"Cackletta," Calub replied, "Don't forget our bargain. I bring Ward to the Darkness, and you tell me where to find Beth's heart and put it back in her body!" he said.

"Of course!" she said.

"Now hold on!" cried Debede. He was about to tell Cackletta that she was telling a boldfaced lie, but was cut off with a look from Fawful, his headgear humming ominously.

"Now," replied Cackletta, "We begin."

From OtO

Hope you enjoyed. Sora and crew come back in the next chapter.


	8. Keyblade's Together

The Keyblade Master Meets the Keyblader

In the alleyway of Traverse Town, the very same alleyway that Ward had woken up in merely hours ago, a great portal appeared. From inside, came screaming, and three people were flung out. They landed in a heap on each other, and started pushing to get off of each other.

"Goofy!" cried one, in a raspy voice, "Get your foot out of my eye!"

"Sorry, Donald," Goofy said.

Sora looked around at the portal just in time to see Kairi step gracefully out of the portal. "How'd you do that?" he asked her, bewildered.

"I wasn't in such a hurry!" she smiled. But when she was completely out, the portal started closing. Just inside the shrinking window, the King, Prince, and Riku could be seen.

"RIKU!" Sora cried. He lunged for the portal. All he could see was Riku's face.

"Don't worry Sora!" called the King. "He has to find his counterpart!"

"Or counter-PRAT if he's anything like I was!" Riku laughed. "I'll find you soon enough! You've got Kairi to keep you company this time."  
"And what are we," Donald frowned, "Chopped liver?"

"Goodbye, Donald," Riku laughed as the portal closed.

Sora turned around smiling. Kairi smiled at him. Donald frowned. "Sora, are you ok?" he asked. Sora looked at him in surprise.

"Why wouldn't I be?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I think what Donald means is that we gotta start looking for Riku and the King again, and you seem happy about it." Goofy replied.

"Well, if Riku said he'd see me again, he will!" Sora shrugged. "He hasn't lied to me about it yet!"

"Hey Sora," Goofy said, frowning, "This place looks kinda familiar, don't it?" Sora looked around. His eyes grew wide, as he realized that this was exactly where he was sitting nearly two years ago when his own adventure had started.

"Traverse Town!" Ward cried. He took off to where he knew Cid's shop should be. "Come on, guys, lets go see Cid!"

"You mean Cid's counterpart," Goofy reminded, "We're in the alternate Traverse Town now, Sora." Sora stopped.

"Oh…yeah," he replied. Right as he stopped, heartless appeared. Sora pulled out the Keyblade (which was currently the Kingdom Key), Goofy his shield, Donald his staff, and Kairi her own Keyblade, the one Riku had given her in The World That Never Was, which she had named, Every Rose has its Thorns, Rose for short. But before they did anything, a flash of black appeared, the gleam of silver, and every heartless had died, leaving a man in black armor standing in the dark mist that heartless turned into when they died.

"You two," He said, turning and pointing his sword at Sora and Kairi. Donald and Goofy gripped their weapons tighter. "Come with me."

"We don't go anywhere without Goofy and Donald," Kairi said. Donald and Goofy nodded.

"I don't care who comes. But you two are for sure." The man turned and started walking. They didn't say a thing until they got to the house Sora recognized as Leon's in the other universe.

"What's your name?" Sora asked him.

"Garam," replied the man without even looking at him. He knocked on the door, said his name, and the door was answered by a pretty woman with dark black hair. Rinoa smiled at them and said, "Wow, there's been a lot going on tonight…" but Garam interrupted her.

"The two humans are keybladers," he said without batting an eye. The girls eyes widened and she looked at them suspiciously. "And HE," Garam said pointing at Sora, "Seems to have a special one. Show her." Sora pulled out his blade.

"WARD!" Rinoa cried, "That is WARD'S Keyblade! Did you steal it from him? What did you do to him?" Sora nearly fell over in surprise.

"Ward?" he asked, "He was here?"

"Well I think we have some explainin' to do," Goofy said. Everyone stared at him, as though it was rare that Goofy said something so obviously simple, yet no one else seemed to think of it before he did. Even though this happened quite a lot. Rinoa sighed, pulled out some chairs, and they sat down. Quina walked in, carrying a platter of food.

"MMM," it said, spotting Donald, "Me loves roast duck!" Donald squawked and blasted it with lightning, sending it back into the kitchen. For the first time since they met him, Garam smirked. Then he looked over at Sora and said, "Where did you get that keyblade?"

"Well," Sora started. He went into the story about the alternate universes, and about the Prince and the King. He said how Riku was going to meet his own counterpart, and how they were the only ones from entering the portal to stay together. Then he started in on his own story, aided by Donald, Kairi and Goofy whenever he faltered. Rinoa looked startled when Sora mentioned Leon's name, and Garam hid his face (and a few tears) when Donald mentioned beating Setzer in the struggle match.

"…we stepped into the portal, and ended up here." Sora finished. Garam looked at him, and said. "I see."

"This explains everything!" Rinoa said loudly. She pulled a picture off the wall, and showed it to Sora and the others and said, "Here, this is Leon, isn't it?" Sora stared. Sitting in front of him, hand drawn, was Leon. Definitely not a face he expected to see in this world.

"Yeah, but how do you know him?" Sora asked.

"I see him in my dreams," Rinoa said. "I hope I meet him someday."

"I think you could, some day," Goofy said.

"That would be SEVERE meddling," Donald emphasized. Sora rolled his eyes.

"Oh," he said, "and the heartless aren't doing that already?" Donald rolled his eyes, but did not disagree.

"Ok," Reeve said. "We know one thing. You need to meet up with the keyblader…" Sora interrupted him.

"Why do you call him a Keyblader?" he asked. Reeve looked surprised.

"Isn't that what the people in your universe call you?" he asked.

"No, they call me the Keyblade's Chosen, the Keyblade Master, or the Keyblade Wielder." He replied.

"That's just what we call you guys here," Reeve shrugged his shoulders, "Anyway, you need to find him. I've put a tracker on his gummi." He's heading for a certain world…I suppose you could have the old man in the third district help you get there."

"Merlin's counterpart?" Sora asked. "I wonder what he's like?"

"A bit loony, but he's ok," Rinoa replied with a smile. Garam handed him a stone, and a little book. The book was poorly repaired, and the stone had a flower in it.

"This must be like Pooh's story book," Ward said, "And this must be Simba's counterpart."

"Take those to the wizard," Garam replied. "You won't be able to use them, as you aren't from this universe. But I need you to give them to Ward."

"Ok," Ward said, and he and his companions walked out the door. The third district was easy to find, as the town was identical to their own Traverse Town. They remembered the door that needed to be blasted with fire to open it. Sora zapped it, and they went across the familiar steps to what looked like Merlin's house. Sora walked inside, and found an old man sitting in a chair, reading what looked like countless scrolls. He had a pointy blue wizard's hat, a long white beard that scraped the floor, a red robe tied round his waist with a white cord, and next to his chair, was a red and white striped staff. He looked up and said, "Why hello…hmmm…you are not the Keyblader I've been expecting, are you." He turned to Donald, Goofy, and Kairi, then smiled and said, "No, no, none of YOU are the Prince's brother, so that must mean that you are the other Universes Keyblader! Absolutely Splendid! Well, I don't need to teach YOU anything. Place the book on that pedestal, he can see it when HE comes." He finally stopped talking, but only to take a drink of tea.

"Who are you?" Donald asked politely, which was strange coming from the short tempered duck."  
"I am the Great Wizard Whitebeard. Call me Whitebeard if you wish," he replied. "I come from a far different world. A world that cannot be reached by the normal gummi, due to its distance. I traveled here and there with magic. My friend and companion Waldo watches things while I am gone, although the poor boy often gets lost in his books. But I suppose you want me to take you to Ward?"

"Yes sir!" Goofy replied, which was the last thing anyone said. With a wave of his staff, the four disappeared.

"Hey!" Ward said, "There's a World up there!"

"No can do Rook," Popple said. "The atmosphere would kill the gummi, and besides that the air ain't breathable."

"You leave-a that to me and my magic," Luigi replied. Popple looked to Birdo.

"Hope you brought your spare tools," he said. She nodded. "Good, cause we are gonna have one heck of a repair job on our hands after this."

They dropped down, the storm in the atmosphere blasting at the gummi bit by bit. Soon they broke through, but a wing had tore off. They were going at break neck speeds, Luigi had his eyes closed, and was sweating profusely. Suddenly, the gummi righted itself, and landed roughly next to another ship, very unlike a gummi.

"DON'T OPEN THE HATCH!" Luigi screamed at Birdo, who was about to look outside. Luigi pointed his mallet at each of them in turn, and they were put into futuristic space armor, complete with helmets with HUD's. There was no defense mechanism, but they didn't need them built into the armor. All they needed was the basics. But like this, they could barely see each other's faces. Suddenly the hatch opened, and a tall figure stepped in. The person was clad in orange armor, with what looked like two giant balls for shoulder guards. The knees of the armor where spiked and sharp. It looked at them.

"Get out," Said a metallic voice.

"Hey man, we aren't looking for a fight!" Ward said.

"Prove it," Said the figure. Ward pulled out the Keyblade. It was impossible to tell what was going on in the figures head. He neither jumped, nor breathed at the sight of it. Finally, he spoke.

"Finally," He said, "Someone who can help me WITHOUT getting in the way."

"What do you mean?" Ward asked. He looked at the figure.

"Well, let's just say the Space Marines aren't exactly the elite. They can handle pirates, and even the stray metroid. But they cant handle these new foes. I'M having trouble. And to make it worse, they are possessing the Pirates. If they possess a single metroid, it would be unstoppable. But imagine a hundred!"

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Ward cried, "Slow down! What on Fate Oasis is a metroid?"

"What on 'Zebes,' actually," the figure corrected. "And you will know soon enough, once I have updated your HUDs.

"My name's Ward, and this is Luigi!" Ward said.

"My name is Samus Aran," The figure replied.

Suddenly, there was a crash outside. Samus dashed out, followed by Ward and Luigi. Lying in a heap where three people, each clad in the same type of armor that Ward and Luigi had. One was red, like Ward, one was wearing blue, the other green. Standing next to them, in orange, was a fourth person.

"Donald, Goofy," cried the one in red, "Get off! Why do we do that every time we get transported?"

"A-hyuck, Hey Sora!" The tall one in green called. His face mask (as well as the one in blue's) protruded out a great deal. They were obviously not human. "Do ya think maybe that's Ward and Luigi?"

"Who wants to know?" Ward asked, pulling out his keyblade. The red one, Sora, walked up to him, and pulled out his own keyblade, which was identical to Ward's. Ward gasped.

"We need to talk," Sora said, in a friendly voice.


	9. The Memory of Xehanort

I do not own the copyrighted stuff I just added in this chapter

The Memory of Xehanort

Cloud was patrolling his half of the castle. He and Auron had decided to split the job, Auron taking the left half, and Cloud taking the right. Their duties were simple, guard the castle, and if there was any trouble in the outside worlds, Chip and Dale would be ready and waiting to put a gummi to use for them. Cloud turned a corner, and found himself in the throne room, which startled him as the throne room was on the left side of the castle. He jumped in surprise.

"What the heck?" he said out loud. Auron had also appeared next to him, and they saw Merlin.

"Sorry gentlemen," he said, "Something strange has come up."

"What's wrong, Merlin?" Cloud asked regaining his composure.

"It would appear that Xehanort has returned yet again," he said.

"But…how?" Asked Auron, furrowing his brow.

"I do not know for sure…but he we do know that he has already taken Halloween Town and Christmas Town. He convinced Jack Skellington that the best Halloween shocker of all would be ultimate darkness, and if Sora told you anything about Jack…well, he's rather naïve about things that don't directly concern him. Master Yen Sid is working on a hypothesis, but I pray he's wrong."

"What does he think is going on?" Cloud asked.

"I doubt you boy's know anything about Horcruxs, do you?" Merlin asked gravely.

A cloaked figure walked slowly through a dark graveyard. The headstones were old, decrepit. He paused at a particularly large headstone that read, Tom Riddle Jr., and chuckled. He marched onward to a large broken down manor, that once many years ago had housed aristocrats. Through the door he went, not even opening it, as if he were a ghost. He marched up the stairs, the place was shrouded in darkness. At the end of the stairwell, there was a door that was half cracked open. He paused, as a giant snake crept out and glided across the floor towards him. It stared up at him with its ugly triangular head, before going back into the room. The figure heard hissing noises, and then a high, cold, cruel voice that would have sent ice down the back of a normal man spoke.

"Why Wormtail," it said, "We have a guest." The scurrying of feet could be heard, and the door was pulled open, revealing a large room that at one time may have been a cozy den. Now it was a disgusting moth eaten pit. A small man, balding with watery eyes greeted the figure, and silently gestured for the figure to come in. The man walked over to a moth eaten arm chair, and smiled at what he saw in it.

"Lord Voldemort," The man said in a pleasant voice, "How very nice to see you again, looking a little worse for the wear though, it would seem."

"Ah yes, many years have past since our first encounter, young Xehanort," the voice replied. "It is good to see you again, for finally I have competent means to come back to power."

"I found you," came a half hearted, squeaky voice from the bald man. The voice in the chair chuckled.

"Yes, Wormtail, but not out of loyalty did you come back to me," it said, "Out of fear of your former friends and with no where else to go did you come back. And you, as you yourself have admitted, are far from competent. Though a stroke of genius I had not expected from you, it was, when you brought that other worlder to me. I would never have known about young Xehanort's "death" and would not have been able to get in touch with him. But as for getting me a body…we may leave that to our friend here. He knows the process even better than I. And besides, Wormtail, I can actually trust Xehanort, having taught him much since his departure with the heart loving fool, Ansem the, "Wise."

"Ah, but you were talking to my heartless then," Xehanort replied, "While my nobody was plotting much the same thing, with much worse help I may add."

"Ah, you flatter me," said the voice, "But it appears you are whole again…tell me how?"

"Ah yes, a potion I developed. I needed a strong heart, and I found it in a boy named Riku. When my nobody first regained true form, it was through his heart that I did it. He expelled me mostly from his body, but I took some of his heart with me. Using it, I developed a potion, based shortly on what you yourself plan to use, and regained form. I had the help of my heartless, of course, where you now have wormtail and I. Although, I think I had it better for the most part. My help was slightly more loyal." Here he turned and sneered at the cowering man, who fell over in fright. "The potion contrived of four things. My horcrux, which kept my heartless and nobody from dissolving, although not being completely human they did not have conscious thought. The remains of my heart, which my heartless pulled from Kingdom Hearts at the last seconds, my body and soul, which was found with the remains of my nobody in the Land of Nothing, and of course…a star."

"A star you say…" Voldemort said. "Intriguing. I have long wondered the value of them…but they are so rare in this universe…where did you come across one?"

"My counterpart," Xehanort said, "He came into this world at the ebb of this universe and commanded my heartless for me. I never met him, but I remember it."

"I see…" the voice said, colder than ever, "That is interesting…" suddenly, the snake came back in the room again, and the hissing started.

"Wormtail, there appears to be an old muggle standing right outside this door, listening to every word we have been saying…do invite him inside, wont you?"

An old man came in. He walked with a limp, and had a cane. He showed no sign of fear as he approached two of the most deadly people in the universe. Although, he didn't know this.

"Tell me muggle, what have you heard?" came the voice.

"Enough to get the police interested, I'd wager, killing from the sounds of it. Satanists no doubt! All this talk of souls and hearts, I wouldn't be surprised!" he faltered, then continued, a little shaky, "Any my wife is waiting at home for me, she'll be a little upset if I don't get home…" but Xehanort interrupted him.

"You have no wife," he replied, "Your heart flickers with darkness when you lie, and I can tell…do not lie to us."

"Believe what you want, but the police will be here, I called them when I saw the lights on in the house…any minute now in fact!" the muggle replied.

"Do not speak to Lord Voldemort in such a manner, cretin," The voice in the chair said.

"Oh really, 'My Lord,'" the muggle said with a laugh, "You're so strong, why don't you turn round and face me like a man?"

"Because I am so much more than a man," the voice said, "But why not? Xehanort, if you would."

Xehanort approached the chair and spun it around. The muggle dropped his cane. He didn't have time to scream before it was over. A flash of green light, and he fell to the ground, alive no more.

Five hundred miles away, a boy named Harry Potter awoke with a start.

Cloud, Merlin, Auron, Yen Sid, and a new wizard were all gathered around the table in the throne room.

"Gentlemen, may I introduce you to Albus Dumbledore." Yen Sid replied. Dumbledore was a sight to see. Yen Sid, and even Merlin, kept themselves in good respectable ways, but this Dumbledore was contentedly sucking on lemon drops as the talked.

"What did you learn, Wise Yen Sid?" Auron asked.

"Many things," Yen Sid began, "But it wouldn't have been possible without the help of my good friend, Albus." Dumbledore looked up at the sound of his name.

"Gentlemen," he said in a serious tone that defied his sucking of sweets, "we face a graver problem than before. I am sure of this. Lord Voldemort has helped your Xehanort gain a Horcrux. Half of it resided in his nobody, and the other went into an object that we do not know. And as long as that object remains…we have no means of destroying Xehanort for good."

"Where would he leave his horcrux?" Cloud asked. Dumbledore shrugged his shoulders.

"I will begin research on this immediately. But the fact that he has a Horcrux is half of the problem. If this is true, than an equally great threat is joining forces with him, or maybe already has." Merlin replied.

"Worse than Xehanort?" Cloud asked.

"Worse than Sephiroth, maybe," Dumbledore replied.

"You know Sephiroth?" Cloud asked hurriedly.

"No, but I am an accomplished legillems, and I can see him in you," Dumbledore replied. "It is nothing to fear, you have control so long as you keep the darkness from controlling you."

"Thanks…I think," Cloud said, looking at his twinkling blue eyes.

"All we can ask you lads to do, is travel the worlds, and prevent them from being over run," Merlin said.

"And how do we do that?" Auron asked, "We do not have Keyblades?"  
"Are you so sure?" Dumbledore asked. "Concentrate, and the Keyblade will come to you. With the union of these menaces, a war is on the horizon. And the only ones who can help fight it, are keyblade weilders."

Cloud held out his hand, and focused on his light. As he did, he felt his hand open enough to allow the hilt of a sword, and the blade appeared in his own hand as he had seen Sora's do so many times. It looked like his buster sword, only more round. The keychain on it was his mark, the Fenrir.

Auron was doing the same thing, only his blade was blood red, more round, looking like an old fashioned key, where as Clouds looked like a car key. His keychain was a jug, much like his own. There was a thunder cloud on the blade.

"A Keyblade War," Auron said.

There, FINALLY! Sorry for the wait, but as you can see, good things come to those who wait.

What about Samus now?


	10. Prime Time

Prime Time

Ward stared at Sora. Sora was much shorter than he, Ward, but their keyblades were exactly the same. Golden handles, silver blades.

"I think some explaining is in order," Ward said.

"Long version or short?" Ward asked.

"Better make it short," Samus said. "We need to get going if we're going to save this planet."

"O.K.," Sora replied. "Basically we are from another universe…" But the short one in blue interrupted him.

"Sora!" he screamed, jumping on Sora's foot.

"OUCH! Donald, what the heck?" Sora asked.

"I think this is a story better left for the Gummi, wouldn't you?" Donald said.

"A-hyuck, Donald is worried about meddling again, ain'tcha Donald?" Goofy replied. Donald nodded.

"If you are worried about speaking of the other worlds around me, don't worry. I am a Universal Bounty Hunter. I travel to the different worlds on a regular basis." Samus replied. Donald's jaw dropped. Sora smiled (although no one saw it).

"Basically we're from another Universe," Kairi said. Samus stared at her.

"I think you'd better wait in the ship," Samus told her.

"Why?" Kairi asked.

"Because you'll only slow us down. It's going to be a fast paced fight from here on, and we won't be able to stop every other minute to wait for you."

"You won't have to worry about that," Sora said angrily. "Kairi's been on more adventure's than you! She knows how to fend for herself."

"I seriously doubt that." Samus said. Just then, Kairi pulled out her own keyblade, Rose.

"No need to worry about me," She said. Samus grunted and turned. Samus started walking towards a giant blue door. The others followed. Sora looked over at Ward.

"I'll give you the long version later," he said. Ward nodded. He didn't even know Sora, but for some reason, he knew he could trust Sora.

Donald and Goofy had practically swarmed Luigi. They were quite intent on getting to know their counterpart, and seeing which of them he was more like.

"Surely you rely on your magic more than brute force?" Donald asked.

"Well, I do know quite a lot of spells…" Luigi started, but Goofy interrupted.

"Well sure, but I know you get a thrill from bashing a heartless every now and then, right?" he asked.

"For sure," Luigi said. He was clearly embarrassed at all the attention he was getting.

"Quiet," Samus said. "My ship is a safe haven. The heartless, as you call them, cannot penetrate this area, due to a crystal of pure light energy. I borrowed it from a previous adventure for safekeeping. But beyond this door, that's another story. Get ready for whatever comes next."

"Wait!" Sora said. They all looked at him. He dug in a pocket and pulled out the Photon Debugger Keychain. "A space mission calls for a space keyblade, does it not?" He attatched it to the blade, and watched it change into the powerful one that Tron had given him.

"Where do I get one of those?" Ward asked.

"Sorry, my universe exclusive." Sora laughed. Samus sighed and turned around. She aimed her gun at the door, and shot a single blast. The door opened.

"Welcome," Samus said, "To Tourian."

Scene Change (for those of you who have trouble noticing them in other chapters)

Deep in the heart of Tourian, at the very core, was a gigantic cylindrical tube. In this tube, was a brain. A brain the size and weight of a car. An eye opened, and the reflection of the heroes shone on it. Most notably, Samus.

"Ridley, why don't you greet our new guests," The brain said. The fearsome winged beast leapt off its platform and soared away.

Scene Change

The heroes trodded through the decrepit remains of what might have been a beautiful civilization. There was no life anywhere. No noise of any kind.

"It's creepy here," Kairi said, moving closer to Sora.

"Shh," Samus said, pausing. She pressed a button on her arm cannon, and it changed. A small chamber came open on the top, and seemed to be filled with freezing cold energy.

"You two," She said to Donald and Luigi, "ready your ice magic." They nodded, and pulled out their weapons. There was a gurgling sound, and suddenly, Ward's, Kairi's, and Sora's keyblades jumped into their hands.

"What the…?" Sora mumbled. Usually when his keyblade jumped out, danger would attack instantly, but nothing was happening yet. They stared into the darkness, waiting for something, when all of a sudden, the most frightening thing happened.

It wasn't much larger than Ward, Samus, or Goofy, but it was scary. It looked like the Jellyfish that Sora used to poke on the beach when he was a kid, only he wasn't scared of the Jellyfish. It was a greenish color, with red orbs on the inside. There was three spikes protruding from the bottom.

"Heartless?" Donald asked, as he barely dodged the surprisingly fast creature.

"Worse," Said Samus, following the creature with her cannon. "It's a metroid." Ward tapped his HUD and turned on the scan visor.

"Metroid-Zebes breed," It read, "Used in scientific studies by the space pirates, this fearsome creature has the power to suck the life energy out of its victim. The best way to kill it is by freezing it first. If you don't have a means to freeze it, then hope it's alone. If it latches onto you, go into alt mode and attack it. If you don't have an alt mode, then you're already dead." He about choked when he read the last part.

Donald and Luigi were running and jumping trying to freeze it, but it was too quick. Finally, Samus hit it with a charged shot from her cannon.

"You three!" Samus said to the Keyblade bearers. "Everything you got, now!" Sora, Kairi, and Ward ran at it with tremendous speed and all three attacked at the same time, shattering the creature.

"That was really scary," Kairi said.

"Well, they make remarkable pets if you hatch them yourself," Samus said. They all stared at her. "Experience," She said shrugging and turning round.

"I get the feeling that wasn't the last we're gonna see of em, either," Goofy said. And as always (or so it seemed) Goofy was right. The next area they came to was full of them. They were gorging on what was left of a battle between the pirates and the marines. When they had finished killing every metroid in sight, (Goofy was unlucky enough to get much of his life sucked away at one point before Donald froze it) Sora said, "Why do I get the feeling the Metroids were the end of this battle?"

But just as everyone was putting away their weapons, a new batch came out.

"Circle around Goofy until we have a chance to heal him!" Samus said. But Goofy was officially the least of their problems. The heartless had finally appeared, and with them, Ridley.

"Ridley!" Samus called. "I kill you at least twenty times and you ALWAYS come back!"

"Because you never really kill ME," Ridley said, "You usually get cheap imitations, and one time you managed to defeat my own son. Well now I'm here for real, although I doubt that I'll need to take you down, I'll leave that to my new friends here." with that, he turned around and flew back out, locking the door behind him. The heartless sprang to life, but did not go for the heroes. They went for the metroids. The two powerful entities struggled for control, but eventually, the heartless won. They took control of the metroids, who in turn formed together to create one giant Metroid. Ward scanned it.

"Metroid Prime-Heartless Version," The HUD displayed, "Seemingly born from the fusion of Heartless and Metroids, this being has no visible weak points. Good luck."

"Great," Ward thought, "Not only do we stand no chance, but my HUD has a sense of humor."

"Someone better heal Goofy," Samus said tensely as the giant being (which looked more like a crab than anything) charged. "We're going to need all the help we can get."

OTO I Know some of you are saying "Finally!" but don't worry, I plan to get back on this thing, a chapter a night if I can.


	11. Chozo Princess

Chozo Princess

Donald cast Curaga on Goofy just in time for them all to get out of there. Sora flew over the battlescene, gliding and blasting Prime with his Blizzaga magic. Unfortunately that wasn't enough. The spells merely bounced off.

"I thought you killed these things with ice!" Sora called to Samus. Samus was in no situation to respond. She had gone into her morph ball and ducked into a crevice to avoid assault. When she reappeared, she yelled back to him.

"You're the heartless expert, what do you think we should do?" she said, firing her homing electric based attacks at it. The charges merely danced across its body. Donald, Goofy, and Luigi were protecting Kairi, who seemed to be Primes number one target for some reason. Sora and Ward would try to get its attention, but it would always divert back to Kairi.

"What's it got against her anyway?" Donald asked. Samus jumped onto the ledge to aid them.

"My only guess is that it is confusing her with me. When I went into morph ball, it couldn't see me anymore. Therefore, it sought out the next orange clad heroine, and assumed it was me. Sora, who was gliding nearby, nearly fell out of the sky when he heard this.

"Y…You're a girl?" he asked, incredulously. She nodded. Sora's brain began to go into overdrive. Everything started clicking with her answer.

Ever since they arrived, it was bugging Sora as to why the heartless would attack such a seemingly useless world. It was devoid of any life that was beneficial. But now he understood. Samus was a Princess of Light. He wanted to tell Donald, but Donald had his hands full at the moment. "Better wait for the battle to finish," he thought to himself.

No matter what they did, however, they could not make a dent in that armor that it had. Luigi and Ward tried the same freezing technique that they did to the armor heartless, but it didn't work. Donald and Sora used their Limit break, but not even their combined efforts did anything to stall the giant beast. Samus and Ward teamed up, integrating Wards Keyblade (Practically his entire arm) into her cannon, and shooting out massive amounts of pure light energy. This is the closest thing that anyone came to denting the armor.

"We gotta think sharper!" Ward said. Suddenly, there was a flash right next to him, and Goofy was off.

"Goofy, what the heck?" Donald screamed. With a look of immense concentration, Goofy threw his hands out and screamed. His ears flew up, sparks shone from his body, and his whole body took on an odd coloration. "GOOFY NO!" Donald screamed.

"What's he doing?" Sora called.

"He's going into Trance!" Donald answered. Goofy looked up, and gave Prime a look that Sora had never seen on Goofy's face. It was one of pure hatred and anger. It scared Sora to look at Goofy like that, because Sora had never seen Goofy truly angry before. Even in the harshest times, Goofy never grew cold with anyone. Goofy jumped in the air, and took off. He held his shield out at arms length, and began spinning, just like he did with his tornado attack. Only this time, he kept spinning instead of fading off. Faster and faster until he was only a blur. Then like lightning, he shot off toward prime. The oversized Metroid shot blasts at Goofy that merely bounced off the spinning warrior. They collided, only this time, the armor was shattered. Like a tall buzzsaw, Goofy tore through the armor, in one end and out the other until finally, it retreated into a hole. Goofy collapsed on the ground, clearly spent. He returned to normal.

Sora ran up next to him and cast Curaga. "Goofy…aside from looking completely scary, that was INCREDIBLE," Goofy turned and smiled weakly.

"It sure does a number on a guy though, ahyuck!" he answered, no longer looking upset at all.

"GOOFY," Donald screamed. "You know you're not ready to go into trance yet! His Majesty has told you A HUNDRED TIMES!"  
"Well Donald, just like when I abandoned Riku for Sora, I was ready to do what it took to help my friends," Goofy answered.

"I know, I know…" Donald said.

"Goofy," Kairi asked, "Why didn't you do that earlier, if you knew you could do it?"

"Well, I only got the idea when Ward said we need to think sharper," Goofy replied as the mages were healing him, "My shield edge is sharper than anything here, so I knew I just needed to give it a little extra get up and go!" Before anyone could laugh, there was a roar from down below.

"It's not finished," Samus said. They stared down the hole into blackness.

"Donald, you Goofy and Luigi stay here and look after Kairi," Ward said. Kairi started to protest, but stopped when Sora put up his hand.

"You've proven you can fight," Samus said, "But trust me, if my scanners are reading this right, we aren't going to want to get crowded down there."

"Fine," Kairi said, "Just take care of Sora, would you? He always gets himself into trouble, some how."

"Men usually do," Samus said, a hint of laughter in her voice. The three of them jumped into the blackness. After a while, a small light shone, which grew and grew until they could see what it was.

Ward Scanned it. "Metroid Prime-Armorless. The fact that you got it to this stage is incredible, but unfortunately this is where it ends. Because, to kill this beast, one must channel the extreme toxin phazon, blue in color, and highly poisonous to any living creature around it. If you've managed to get it into a room filled with phazon, then kudos to you, take care of it."

"I can't wait to get rid of this thing," Ward thought. He looked around. Samus was staring at the giant creature. It was slightly taller than Samus, but much shorter than the armored version of itself. This version resembled a metroid much more than the other one. It was blue in color, but clear, like a metroid. It seemed to have veins that ran the course of its body. Instead of claws, it had tentacles. And the red orbs on the inside highly resembled a face.

Sora looked around at the room they were in. This was not a place for children, that was for sure. The toxic blue waste was in three corners, just oozing. Samus stared at the new creature.

"There is no trace of heartless in this creature," She said. "This is all metroid, highly evolved." Sora nodded, and ran forward. The creature zapped him with a blue light, throwing him backwards into the wall, dangerously close to the toxic phazon. He got up and started blasting blizzards at it. Ward was throwing his keyblade like a boomerang, knocking it backwards, but doing no visible damage to it. Samus was blasting it with super missiles.

"My scanner says we should channel the phazon through our weaponry to beat it!" Ward called out. Samus looked at the blue substance, then jumped into it.

"SAMUS!" Both Ward and Sora called out.

"I'm fine," She shouted, "Distract it for a while!" Sora nodded and started and looked at the creature.

"I wonder if I can go into trance…" He thought. Focusing all of his energy, he flexed every muscle in his body, but nothing happened. "Damn," he thought, "I'm gonna have to get Goofy to teach me how to do that." He side stepped as one of the tentacles came close from gutting him. Ward ducked, rolled and was directly under the creature, and fired a blast of lighting right into the center. It roared, and smacked Ward hard with a blue energy beam. Ward landed next to Samus, who was charging her beam. It was sucking in the phazon, and was coursing through her suit, giving her an odd blue color.

"Get it into range," She said to him.

"Sure," Ward said, exasperated, "No problem." He turned just in time to see the creature knock Sora down, and started sucking the life out of him.

"SORA!" came a voice from above, and Goofy, Donald, Luigi, and Kairi were there. Goofy threw his shield and smacked the creature in the head, it turned, and saw him. Roaring, it charged Goofy. It was apparently still angry at its quick defeat at his hand.

"Bring it closer to Samus!" Ward yelled. Goofy threw his shield on the ground and jumped on it like a skateboard and took off at a decent speed towards Samus. Prime chased him, oblivious to the plan that they had. They were mere feet from Samus when Goofy reached down and grabbed his shield and jumped out of the way. Samus fired. The blast was incredible. Hitting Prime square in the face, the monster screamed and thrashed. The more the beam fired, the brighter it got, until finally it was too bright to see anything. The monster gave one final scream before, finally, the light faded, leaving nothing but a pool of phazon in its wake. The group looked at it, and Sora (who Donald and Luigi had recovered) turned to Samus.

"Way to go…huh?" Sora said. But Samus was gone.

"Where'd she go?" Ward asked. He looked up, and Ridley had returned, carrying an unconscious Samus in his talons.

"NO," Sora yelled.

"I'm afraid so!" Ridley sneered. He threw a ball which opened a teleporter, and dropped Samus in. "I hate to run, but I have a Universe to conquer!" He started his descent, but Ward threw his keyblade, and hit the ball, destroying the portal. Ridley, completely unprepared for this, plummeted to the ground, colliding head first, breaking his neck. As he lay twitching on the ground, he looked over (what little he could with a broken neck) and said, "I still win," he pulled out a remote control and hit the only button on it. A siren started, and a metallic voice said "Self destruct in T-minus 2 minutes." Ridley then died.

"We have to get back to the ship!" Luigi said. Sora looked over, and saw a healing point.

"C'mon, we can use this to get back to the Gummi!" He said. They teleported to the gummi.

"Hey Rook!" Popple said to Luigi, "Got the ship repaired and more! We can survive the atmosphere."

"Save it for later!" Ward said, running past the confused technician. "We've got an exploding planet to get off of!"

"WHOA!" Popple yelled, "Everyone in, NOW!" After the gummi was loaded, they took off. Right as they escaped the atmosphere, explosions dotted the planet, and soon, it was entirely engulfed in flame. The group stared at it.

"I wonder what happened to Samus," Donald said.

Scene Change

Cackletta smiled as she stared at the woman, who was put into a magical sleep. Stripped of her power suit, she wasn't a threat to anyone.

"One Princess down," Cackletta thought, "Six to go."

OtO: Find out what Cloud an Auron, as well as some new faces, have been up to in Chapter 12.


	12. Unusual Alliance

Unusual Alliances

Auron and Cloud looked at their Keyblades. "What does this mean?" Cloud asked to no one in particular.

"Well, in times past, the Keyblades normally choose only one master in that persons lifetime," Dumbledore explained, twiddling his thumbs. "When Yen Sid told me about Riku, and then Kairi gaining Keyblades, I was troubled. You see, the last time more than one had a Keyblade, an epic war. The Keyblade bearers united against one particular evil. Using the combined forces of all the worlds mightiest heroes, they were able to subdue him, but there was a cost."

"Who was this evil entity?" Auron asked. "Surely not Sin?"

"Sin?" Dumbledore asked, "No no, he wasn't even around at this time. I must confess, that I do not believe this evil has returned, he was utterly vanquished when the source of his power was cast into the fires that had created it. Ironically, by Halflings, whom he had thought prior were no reason to fret over. No no, I do not believe Sauron has returned. However, it may be the union of Voldemort and Xehanort that is causing this phenomena. You see, alone, they would be enough for the lone hero to vanquish. But together? Their power is unexceedingly extravagant. And so it begins again, the keyblades and the power that controls them see the evil, and start, if you could pardon the lack of professionalism, dishing out keyblades like muggle candy on Halloween."

"So we aren't the only ones, I assume," Cloud said.

"By all means, no," Merlin said. "They should be popping up all over the universe, completely oblivious as to why they possess the weaponry they now do."

"What do we do about this?" Auron asked.

"The answer is simple," Yen Sid said, "You must travel the worlds, looking for these warriors, and unite them with your cause."

"We aren't going to convince everyone what needs to be done," Cloud said.

"Just leave the convincing to the keyblades. They seem to have a mind of their own when it comes to matters like this." Dumbledore replied.

"Chip and Dale have a gummi ready, whenever you are ready to go," Queen Minnie replied.

"Oh boys," Merlin called, as they headed for the door. "My first stop would be Radiant Garden. I bet you find a familiar face there."

Scene Change

Pete cowered in the Corner as Maleficent raged.

"Maleficent, calm down!" he pleaded. "Ya don't want to turn into a heartless again, do ya?" She turned and glared at him, but then her expression softened.

"No," She replied calmly, "I suppose I don't." She walked over to the mirror and looked at herself within. "Pete, I must ask you something."

"W…What's that?" He asked, a little frightened.

"All this time that you've been with me, you have been a clumsy oaf. Yet you never gave up, you never stopped trying, and you always did, to the best of your ability, what I asked of you. Even though I more than once threatened your life. Why?" Pete was expecting a much different question. Like, "WHY DID YOU SCREW UP AGAIN?" (albeit different wording).

"Well I…that is…well, you're the only person to ever give me a chance," he said. "I mean, look at our situation here, I screw up more than a hundred times, and you still call on me, cause you know that even if I screw up once in a while, I'm still the best heartless gathering guy you got, and although you threatened to kill me, I'm still here. most people who threaten to kill me at least attempt it." He finished.

"Maybe…" Maleficent pondered, staring at the glass, "Maybe I haven't been asking you to do the right things." Suddenly, the glass broke, and she fell to the ground grabbing her head. An image of two blood red eyes and a green light shone in her mind.

"NO!" She screamed, and then passed out.

She woke on her bed, Pete was sitting in the chair across the room.

"Maleficent…what's wrong?" he asked.

"This can't be…he's dead!" She screamed.

"What? Who's dead?" Pete asked.

"Voldemort…he is returning to power…he shadowed my mind almost as strongly as he did in full power…"

"Voldemort…who's that?" Pete asked. She turned to him.

"Voldemort is the most powerful magical being in the universe," She said. "His only rival is that fool, Albus Dumbledore. He is the epitome of all things evil and disgraceful."

"Well why don't we turn big bad Voldy into a heartless?" Pete asked, "Someone like him would make an excellent addition, dontcha think?"  
"What didn't you understand about he being the STRONGEST magical user in the universe? I could not defeat him if I was twice as powerful as I am now!"

"What about that runt with the keyblade? I mean, he's beaten some pretty powerful people before! I don't think he's just gonna sit around and wait for Voldemort to destroy half the universe!" Pete replied.

"Hmm," Maleficent pondered. "Why Pete! Once again you prove to be smarter than you look! The enemy of our enemy should be our friend! At least for now…"

"Kinda funny, dontcha think? Us teaming up with that…huh?" Pete's hand was thrust forward, and his hand wouldn't close. Much as though he was holding something. A light shone forth, and a keyblade appeared in his hand. It was black and white, and the blade had three steam pipes protruding from it. The keychain was a small steering wheel.

"A keyblade?" Maleficent was dumbfounded. "Pete! Something extrodinary must be going on for this to be occurring. I think we owe our friends in Disney Castle a visit to ponder this. They disappeared in a flash of green flame.

Scene Change (again)

Cloud and Auron were nearly out the door, when green flames erupted all around them. They jumped back, ready to put their new weapons to use, when they saw who it was they would be combating.

"Maleficent!" Cloud said, charging, but his blade was met by another keyblade, the wielder, being Pete.

"We ain't here to argue, or we wouldn't be here at all," Pete said, struggling to keep his balance against the force Cloud was pushing against his own blade.

"My, my," Maleficent sneered, "It appears they're giving everyone keyblades these days."

"Maleficent!" came a calm voice, and Dumbledore had joined the party. "What brings you here?"

"Indeed," Queen Minnie asked, "If the corner stone didn't prevent your entry, then you must not be here on evil purposes.

"Ah Queen Minnie, always the sharp one," Maleficent replied. "Actually, I'm here on urgent business. But if HE," she glanced at Dumbledore, "Is here, then I suppose you may already know about it."

"Voldemort's return?" Auron asked.

"Yes. I cannot allow him to return." Maleficent replied.

"I thought you would have a certain appeal to him," Dumbledore said, "Didn't he ask you to join him at one point?"

"Of course he did," She answered, "But I am not about to become someone's puppet. I fled, and if it wasn't for my powerful magic, and his timely fall from power, I would not be here before you for, 'betraying,' him.

"That answers one question," Cloud said. "Here's another. Why did you come?"

"I am looking for Sora and Riku," She said, "They may just have the power to defeat Voldemort."  
"They aren't here. They are in another universe as of now, and cannot come back at the present time." Yen Sid replied.

Maleficent looked beyond them towards the portal. "I see…" She said.

"Don't get any ideas," Auron said.

"Don't worry fool," She replied, "One universe is enough for me. If I am lying, let the cornerstone throw me out right now."

Nothing happened.

"Where's the boat-boy king?" Pete asked, "I kinda wanted to spar with him, now that I got my own keyblade!"

"Sorry Pete," Minnie said, "But he's in the alternate universe too."

"Aww shucks," Pete said.

"You're blade will be put to good use soon enough," Auron said. "You're coming with us. We aren't the only new Keyblade bearers in this universe, and we're going to go out and find them all, so we can fight Voldemort and Xehanort."

"Xehanort, you mean that heartless and nobody guy what tried to take over Kingdom Hearts?" Pete asked.

"That's the one," Merlin said.

"Well then I'll go with you," Pete said, "Maybe I'll get a chance to prove my worth around here finally."

"Very admirable Pete," Maleficent replied. "But what can I do to help in this dark situation."

"We magic users are going to be running the strings here. As long as your intentions are with ours, you are free to stay and help." Yen Sid replied.

"And if I happen to turn on you?" She asked.

"Then the cornerstone will remove you from the castle," Minnie replied.

"Of course," Maleficent replied. "For the time being, we will join forces. Do not think this makes us permanent allies."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Dumbledore replied, his eyes twinkling.

"Well boys, you have some serious planet hopping to do, I suggest you get to it," Merlin replied. The three turned and walked out the door.

OtO- Some of you are gonna flame me for this chapter, I just know it, but I happen to like the idea of pete redeeming himself. Have any of you noticed that they are taking Sora's keychains?

Next time: Sora and Crew pick up some HITCHHIKERS, one of which is a decent GUIDE TO THE GALAXY.


	13. Hitch Hikers and Pumpkins: Part 1

Hitch Hikers and Pumpkins: Part One

The Gummi ship floated in orbit just outside of what had, minutes before, been Zebes. The crew stared in sorrow as the debris of the planet floated silently among the reaches of space.

"Well," Goofy said, "There is a bright side," although he didn't sound very happy.

"What's that?" Luigi asked.

"Well, you heard Samus," Goofy explained, "There wasn't any life on that planet besides the Metroids…at least no one died…" but his voice trailed off. Sora understood what he meant, but still, the destruction of an entire planet was a little too much to look at without feeling a little sorry.

"Hey Rook!" Popple called from the cockpit. Everyone's head turned due to Popple's tendency to call everyone Rook. "Oh sorry, uh, Luigi," he corrected, "Just how many people got on the ship with you. Luigi scratched his head.

"Well, lets-a see," he started counting heads, "There was Ward and I, Donald, Goofy, Sora, and Kairi," He finished.

"And Birdo and I make eight," Popple added.

"Why do you ask?" Ward said.

"Cause my scanners say that there's ten on board," Popple said, "Meaning we got us a couple of stowaways."

"We're on it," Ward said, he nodded to the others, and they took off to find the stowaways. After about an hour of looking, they heard voices coming from the galley.

"Ford, this is INSANE! I just witnessed TWO PLANETS blow up in one day! And now we don't even bloody know where we are!"

"Arthur, did you learn anything from the COVER of that book I gave you? Don't Panic! I happen to know where we are. We are in a very sophisticated Gummi ship. I wouldn't doubt this belonged to royalty of some kind!"

"Oh well that clears everything up! I could sure use a nice cup of tea…but I doubt I'll ever drink it again…"

"Arthur, quiet please, someone's coming." Ward, Sora, and the rest of the crew made their presence known, and saw something odd. They were expecting to see some sort of gelatinous metroid, or some other horrific monster from Zebes. But what they saw was two men, who looked perfectly normal, standing in the galley. They both seemed rather fit, one was shorter, Caucasian, with red hair. He looked rather confused and frightened in the current situation. The other was a little taller, African, had a shaved head, and couldn't be happier to see people.

"Thank GOD," Said the black man, "For a second there…thought you might be the vogon leader…haven't had the best of luck you know."

"Who are you?" Sora asked. He didn't think they were a threat, or his keyblade would have jumped out. Ward seemed to have the same idea.

"Well, my name is Ford. Ford Prefect, if you will. I come from the Betelgeuse Star system. My friend here," he pointed at the red haired man, who still looked as though he was watching an episode of Friends OtO "SNAP!" , "is named Arthur Dent. He comes from a little blue planet you probably haven't heard of before."

"If neither of you are from Zebes, then why were you there?" Donald asked. Arthur then noticed Donald and Goofy, and gasped.

"TALKING DUCKS AND DOGS?" He practically screamed, "FORD DO YOU SEE THAT?"

"You'll have to excuse him," Ford said, "His planet hadn't discovered interstellar travel, and the inhabitants were a trite bit unaware of life outside their planet."

"A-hyuck, it happens!" Goofy said.

"Well in answer to your question, we have to go back a ways," Ford said. "You see, I left my planet due to the fact that I am one of the many, many writers for the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."

"What's that?" Sora asked.

"It's a book," Ford said, "But not just any book, it's rather extraordinary. You see, my colleagues and I traveled the Universe writing down information for this encyclopedia. It contains basically anything you will ever need to know about anything in the universe. Well, as we all know, the universe is an ever changing thing, so we were planning on expanding the knowledge. I was on my way to a fascinating planet called mars, when I crash landed on Arthur's planet. I was a little naïve to Arthur's culture, and he saved my life on that occasion. So we became good friends. Now, I never once tried to meddle with their culture, because its against space law to mess with the culture of a planet that hasn't discovered space travel, or at least to the fullest extent. The farthest they'd ever been is their moon!" He broke off and chuckled, "We don't even teach about THAT accomplishment in school back on Betelgeuse, it was rather embarrassing that we considered it to be an accomplishment! I was trapped there for ten years, and Arthur became my best friend. Until…the Vogons arrived. They are about the most foul, disgusting, and highly beaurocrasized creatures in the galaxy. They were in the process of removing Arthur's planet to make room for the Interstellar Galactic Bypass. Well, before the deed could be done, I managed to hitch a ride on the Vogon ship, taking Arthur with me. But we were discovered, and the Vogons tortured us."

"Torture?" Arthur interrupted, "It was just a little bad poetry. You should hear some of the crap we had back on…"

"Arthur, Vogon poetry is the second worst poetry in the universe! Look it up!" Ford said. He turned back to Sora and co. "Needless to say, the Vogons were not pleased with our arrival on their ship, and were going to jettison us into space. But then they saw…Zebes did you call it? Well they saw that planet, and realized killing us in that atmosphere would be much more rewarding than just dropping us into space. Plus, considering that we didn't die on Arthur's exploding planet, it only seemed logical to die minutes later on a strange planet going through a similar crisis. Well, I prepared for the worst. Judging by the looks of things, we probably had twenty seconds in the atmosphere, supposing the planet would give us that twenty before it went and popped. But the second we landed, I saw your ship, grabbed Arthur, and thumbed a ride on it before the atmosphere could kill us and before the planet could blow."

The group took some time to absorb it.

"That," Sora said, shaking his head, "Is quite a story."

"You're telling me!" Arthur replied, "I lived most of it!"

"Well, you're both welcome to come with us," Riku said, "Especially since you have no where else to go."

"Your hospitality is most appreciated," Ford said.

"You wouldn't happen to have any tea on you, would you?" Arthur asked.

"Sorry," Popple said. "We don't."

"Grand," Arthur said, dismally.

"So, where are we headed next?" Goofy asked.

"There's a huge planet down there," Birdo replied, in her unusual voice. "And it's teeming with heartless energy. What's weird, is that it's all coming from one spot. Like someone is controlling it somehow."

"Let's check it out," Sora said.

"Luckily, I'm detecting readings of a space port, so these people are used to interstellar travel. But it looks like they don't use it much. These readings look like they are coming from twenty year old frequencies. Or more." Popple said.

"What's the place called?" Ward asked.

"Monstropolis," Popple replied.

Monstropolis was enormous. The whole planet seemed to consist of one city. Ford told them it reminded him of a place he visited once, called Coruscant, or something like that. Only a little smaller. The minute they entered the atmosphere, however, Sora felt funny. His magical clothing automatically changed him into his vampire form, that he normally took when he entered Halloween Town.

"What the?" he said. Kairi jumped back when she saw him.

"Don't worry," Donald said to her. "Monstropolis must be Halloween Town's counterpart. I'll change the rest of us to match." With a wave of his wand, Donald became a mummy (with no visible stomach or internal organs), Goofy turned into the monster with the bolt screwed into his head, mimicking his hat. Kairi was turned into a strange reptilian creature, her legs disappearing, and two extra arms appearing. She had to either slither, or use her extra arms to walk. Ward was changed into a red, furry beast with black eyes and a scaly tail, and Luigi was turned into an overgrown spider creature. He could stand upright, but he had four legs, four arms, and multiple eyes.

"What about us?" Ford asked Donald. Donald looked at him surprised.

"Uuh…well, I guess there's no reason why not…I mean, you guys can't really hurt anything if you don't have a planet to go home to…no offense Arthur."

"It's…ok," Arthur said, a little flustered. With a wave of his wand, Ford was turned into giant green skinned monster, with blue teeth that glowed in the dark. And Arthur was changed into a white furred beast.

"Ok, I'm descending," Popple said. They went through the rest of the atmosphere, and landed in a very old looking space port. They weren't greeted by anyone, until they walked into the space building. There, they saw a strange monster looking person asleep at his desk. Ward looked around. This guy seemed to be the only person working.

"Uuh…excuse us?" Ward asked, a little confused. The monster stuttered awake.

"Oh, jeeze, did you guys just land?" the monster asked.

"Yeah…our ships right out there," Ward answered.

"You guys must be merchants, or something…no one travels with ships these days, not when they can just use the handy door travel. You should look into it."

"No no," Luigi said, smiling. "We moved out of Monstropolis years ago, just coming back to visit family. Couldn't find a convenient door system."

The monster looked at him funny. "Ok then, well, welcome back…I guess." They walked by him and into the city.

"Luigi, did you know about this city before we landed?" Goofy asked.

"Well, I knew about it, but not about the door system," Luigi said. "I was just improvising ourselves out of a sticky customs search."

"This is incredible!" Ford exclaimed, with a copy of the HHGTTG in his hands. He was inputting information as they walked. "Just look at this place! Completely uncharted for the most part! At least in Hitch Hiker standards. I mean, the only thing the Guide came up with when I entered the name, 'Monstropolis,' is that the average human can't penetrate the defense system! I'm making history by writing down my findings!"

"In Hitch Hiker standards," Arthur said. As they walked along, there were billboards all over displaying a name, Monsters, Inc. Sometimes it would have a monster in a hard hat, but other times, it would show a really scary monster, with his name. Such as James P. Sullivan. Randall Boggs. But there was one that really caught Donald's eye.

"SORA! GOOFY! LOOK AT THAT BILLBOARD!" he screamed. He jumped on Sora's back and forced Sora's head in the direction of the billboard. Sora's Jaw dropped. This is what he read.

"Monsters, Inc. We scare, because we care. Jack Skellington, the current #1 scarer!"

"Jack?" Sora said, utterly confused. "But how?"

"Maybe it's this world's version of Jack!" Goofy said.

"I don't think so," Sora said. "I mean, I have yet to meet a single person in this world who looks exactly like their counterpart, or shares their name."

"We've gotta go over there!" Donald said. They stopped at the corner, where they saw two Monsters arguing. One looked slightly familiar.

"Why can't we take my car to work, Sully?" a short green one who looked slightly like a one-eyed frog with horns was pleading. The other, who was enormous, blue (with purple spots) two small horns, and furry, was dragging the green one away from a nice car.

"Mike, its an energy shortage, and we need to conserve energy. We're walking to work. I mean, look at Ted. Ted walks to work!" Sully answered.

"Big deal," Mike retorted, "The guy takes three steps and he's there!" Sora and co. ran up to them.

"Hey are you James P. Sullivan?" Sora asked. Sully turned around and stared at the, rather large, group.

"Uuh…" He started, but Mike interrupted.

"Of course he is! Don't you read the papers? Jeeze, see Sully this is what I'm telling you, ever since that Jack guy came to town and completely stole the first spot on the scare floor, people have been losing big respect for you."

"Mike, when are you going to drop that grudge," Sully looked at his little friend. "Jack is a great guy, and a tremendous scarer. In the six days he's been working here, he's out scared me. He's been helping us slowly climb out of this crisis. He is a master scarer. His helper, that Finkelstein guy in the wheelchair is a genius."

"Did you say Finkelstein?" Sora asked.

"Yeah, do you know them?" Sully asked.

"Of course they know about the famous Jack and his friends. They're all over the papers!" Mike seemed rather upset about this.

"Well, we know them. But we didn't know they were here…we really need to talk to them, could you lead us to them?" Sora said.

"Sure thing. I can explain everything to my boss," Sully said. They took off together towards a large factory like building.

"So you guys new here, or what?" Mike asked.

"You could say that," Kairi said.

"Do you even know what scaring is?" Mike asked. Sora's group all shook their heads at once. Mike stared at them. "Jeeze…real boondocks types aren't you. Well, a long time ago, Monsters found that scaring human children provided an energy source. Since then, however, we also found out that it is lethal to touch childrens bare flesh, or pretty much anything their bare flesh has touched. So getting this energy is a problem. That's where people like my main man Sully here comes in. They sneak into rooms, scare kids, while people like me collect the screams. Then its converted to energy, blah blah blah. But recently, there's been a shortage of screams. Children are becoming harder to scare these days, with all the crap that numbs their minds to fear these days. And to make matters worse, you got these natural born scarers like Jack Skellington who could scare human adults without batting an eye. It's a tough job." By the time he finished his story, they were in front of the building. They walked inside, and were immediately met by two people, who were busy in conversation. One was a crab like monster in a suit jacket, vest, and tie, sipping a sludgy black liquid that almost resembled coffee. The other was Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King.

"Jack!" Sora yelled. Jack turned, and about knocked the crab monster over in his rush to greet his friends.

"Sora! Donald! Goofy!" He exclaimed, "I just knew that if anyone I knew was going to show up here, it would be you three! What are you doing here, anyway?"

"We could ask you the same thing!" Donald said. The crab monster walked up to the group.

"Oh!" Jack said, turning, "Sorry Mr. Waternoose! These are some of my closest friends! This is Sora, Donald, and Goofy!"

"Ah, well, any friend of Jack's is a friend of Monsters, Inc. And of course, me, Henry J. Waternoose the third."

"Hey Jack!" Sully said, extending a paw. Jack took it with both hands, smiling. "James! Good to see you!" Jack said. He turned to Mike. "And Micheal, always a pleasure."

"C'mon Jack," Sully said, "You know we told you to call us Mike and Sully."

"Of course, of course," Jack said. He then turned back to Sora. "I'll have to talk to you later, guys, I've got a job to do!" And with that, he walked away with Mike and Sully. Waternoose turned to the group. "Well!" he said, eyeing Luigi in particular. "Some of you look scary enough to join our scarer training team? How would you like to try? Nothing long term of course. Unless you would like it to be that way. We are always looking for new talent! And boy did that come out of nowhere about a week ago. Jack just pops through a door, beats the training in under a minute, and then goes on to become the top scarer within the week! If we had some more talent like his and Sullivans…well…let's just say this crisis would be over. But look at me, I'm rambling on again. Come with me."

"Well…" Ward said. "We do have some time till Jack gets off work…so…why not?"

They followed Waternoose through a couple of hallways, and into a room that looked like a danger zone. There was tape saying, "Caution," all over the door. They went inside, where they practiced techniques on a dummy, and were constantly told off by the lady running the program. Surprisingly, however, Goofy passed the class with flying colors.

TBC

I figured I'd Give you all a taster. This is one long chapter, and at the moment, im tired of writing it. I'll finish it up later. Plus, this puts everyone in suspense as to how Jack survived the destruction of his homeworld.


	14. Hitch Hikers and Pumpkins: Part Deux

DON'T PANIC 2

Waternoose scuttled over and patted Goofy on the back.

"My word, son, you have quite the scaring potential!" He said to Goofy. "That technique you use might be funny if you weren't so gruesome looking! I especially liked when you tripped over the train set and stood up all sinister looking! But that was also where you made your only mistake. Try not to touch the children's toys next time!"

"Why not?" Kairi asked, confused. All of the monsters stopped what they were doing and stared at her.

"Dear me! You folks must live really far away!" Waternoose exclaimed. "Don't you know that children are the most toxic of all substances a monster could come in contact with? Why even things that children touch become toxic to the monster?"

"Then why don't the Monster's become sick when they walk on the floor?" Goofy asked. Everyone stared at him. He shrugged his shoulders, "Well I just meant that children walk across their bedroom floors all the time barefoot!"

"HE'S RIGHT!" shouted a monster who was listening. He ran to the speaker system and grabbed the intercom. "23-19! WE HAVE A 23-19!"

"Oh no…" Waternoose grumbled.

"What's happening?" Ward asked. Waternoose's only reply was to point directly above at the windows in the ceiling which were being filled quickly with monsters in yellow containment suits. The entire building was locked down. The monsters in yellow soon had the entire building filled with buzzing gadjets and were examining anywhere and everywhere the scarers could go in the building. After two hours, it was deemed that everyone was clean, except one poor scarer by the name of George, who was shaved, washed, and decontaminated.

After it was all said and done, Sora and Co (including Jack, Dr. Finklestein, Sally, Mike and Sully) were gathered in a conference room with Waternoose.

"Who were those guys?" Luigi asked.

"The CDA," Mike said, "The Child Detection Agency. They swarm the city looking for traces of children. They may be the only thing keeping an epidemic from striking…but they're really annoying."

"Well put Michael," Waternoose said. "A whole day of scaring stopped…" he looked at Goofy, "I don't blame you, son. You said something that made perfect sense. We are pretty lucky we hadn't had an outbreak already! But still…a whole day…for nothing."

"And in the energy crisis, too," Sully said.

The day was done. That was all that could be said. Sora and Co went to Jack's afterwards. On the way there, they discussed Jack's arrival into Monstropolis.

"Well…it was really quite strange." Jack said.

"Even for Halloween Town?" Sora asked.

"In all my years and experiments I have never seen so much dark energy." Dr. Finklestien said.

"Dark Energy?" Sora asked. "Where did it come from?"

"Well, this man came to Halloween town with a proposal." Jack explained. " 'Jack,' He told me, 'I come with a brilliant idea for Halloween this year. Something to really spice it up! Complete darkness!' And of course, I wanted more than anything to give the people the scariest Halloween ever! So I agreed. We went to Dr. Finklestein's Laboratory, where he unleashed dark power of incredible proportion. Even I, Jack Skellington the Pumpkin King, was terrified by the sight. I grabbed the good doctor and Sally and pushed them into the closet. We fell out onto the scare floor back at Monster's Inc. They had made a door to Halloween Town! I couldn't believe our foolishness! But the door was destroyed. So I am waiting for them to make another!" He turned around to see Sora had stopped walking.

"Sora…" Jack said, his smile fading, "What's wrong?"

Sora looked up. "Jack…I don't think Halloween Town exists anymore…" Jack walked back to him.

"What do you mean, Sora?" He asked. The others had stopped to listen.

"Jack, I once lost my world to the darkness. I saw it happen. And I remember it exactly how you described what happened in the lab. I think Halloween Town is gone, lost to the darkness."

Jack looked around at the others, and seeing their faces were that of sorrow, Jack turned, pumped his fists in rage and screamed to the sky, "NOOOOOOOOO!" Then he fell to the ground, on his knees. Sally rushed forward.

"Jack!" She said, "You must not be hard on yourself! It wasn't your fault! I didn't even think it was a bad idea! I had no idea what he would do!" Jack looked at her, and gave a weak smile.

"Sally, you always know how to cheer me up…" he stood up and looked back at Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

"Gentlemen," he said, "I do believe you need to fill me in." They told him the whole story. Well, Goofy and Sora did. Ward and Luigi were too busy holding Donald back, who was in a fit, and the only thing that could be distinguished from his raving was, "MEDDLING…THE KING…SAID NO!!!"

OtO Shorter chapter…but I kinda wanted to move onto something I was neglecting. Riku Meets Calub, next chapter.


	15. The Fallen

The Fallen

The Portal opened, and Riku stepped out. He turned and spoke to the King and Prince, who were still inside.

"What should I do when I meet him?" Riku asked.

"You should try to remove him from the darkness. Whoever Xehanort's counterpart is in this world is already stealing his heart from him, filling it with darkness. We could end this conflict much faster if we were able to stop him from doing so." King Mickey replied.

"Gotcha," Riku replied. He waved goodbye to his old friend as the portal closed. After it had, he stepped around, and nearly fell down. He had lost his balance because he was on a boat. He was in the middle of a tossed sea, and apparently a ship graveyard. There were shredded boats everywhere. But the fresh blood on them seemed to indicate that they were newly destroyed. Riku started walking. There were fallen soldiers everywhere, most of whom were missing extremities. Some kind of monster was loose and killing these men.

"First things first, gotta find this Calub," Riku said to himself. He reached the end of one boat and jumped to another. After finding his balance (and also finding that he was getting a little sea sick) he heard a noise. Footsteps, loud and heavy, where coming his way. He wheeled around as fast as he could, keyblade drawn, and grabbed the man advancing on him and stuck the blade to his throat.

"Who are you?" Riku asked. But the man was so frightened that he acted like he couldn't see Riku.

"Run! Must run! The Hydra! THE HYDRA WILL KILL US ALL!" he screamed as he tore out of Riku's grip. He made it about ten feet before a tentacle of some giant sea beast burst through the planks on the deck of the ship, grabbed the poor man, and pulled him in. Riku ran to the hole, but saw nothing except the inside of the ship, and the dark water below. Suddenly, he heard the rustle of chains, and the sound of something coming through the air right towards him. He ducked and rolled to see a blade fly right where his head had been. It was a short, fat blade on a long chain, and the blade was on fire. Riku stood up and grabbed his keyblade and looked towards his assailant.

There stood a monstrous man. His skin was chalk white, with red tattoos on his face, chest, back and shoulder. The blade had a twin, and they were both chained to his arms. He had a scar on his right eye and was definitely the most muscular man Riku had ever seen. He looked very angry.

"What the HELL was that about?" Riku asked, bewildered.

"You are quick, but I will never be defeated by you," the man said, "Go back to your master Ares and tell him I no longer serve him!" and the man attacked again. Prepared for this, Riku jumped away from one blade and blocked the other with his keyblade. The force behind the blow knocked Riku off his feet, and he landed on the ground. The blade had already been pulled back, and the man was just about to end Riku's life.

"HOLD ON!" Riku yelled, annoyed that he'd been knocked down so easily. "I don't know what you're talking about, and I don't serve any Ares." The man looked at him for a moment, and then walked off like nothing had happened.

"Wait!" Riku called. He got up and chased the man down. Whether the man expected this or not, he had pulled his blades out again and faced Riku. Riku had his keyblade drawn and was ready for a fight. "I just need to ask you a few questions!"

"I do not have time to answer your questions boy. Get out of my way or I will remove you from it." The man replied.

"Have you seen another person like me, probably a little younger, dressed in strange clothing?" Riku asked.

"Stranger than yours?" The man asked. He did not smile.

"I suppose so," Riku said.

"He had gone ahead of me," the man said, putting his swords away, "he had a sword that was quite remarkable, it seemed able to cut through anything. Yours is unique as well, a giant key almost. Are you in league with him?"

"Not yet," Riku answered, putting his own blade away, "He's about to make a big mistake, and cast himself into the darkness of his heart. I have to stop him."

What affect these words had on the mysterious man, Riku didn't know, but he turned and said, "I will take you to him, then we will part ways. I do not need your help, so don't get in my way until we find him."

"I'm Riku," Riku said, extending his hand.

"Kratos," the man said, turning and running.

"Real friendly, Kratos," Riku said to himself as he sprinted to catch up.

OtO Holy Crap, I was dusting off my puter (looking through some old files) when I realized I hadn't updated this in over a year almost! Don't worry, though regular updates from now on, I promise.


	16. A Storm Brewing

A Storm Brewing

The Gummi soared through the darkness of space. Every once in a while it would shoot a rogue heartless, but for the most part the journey had been smooth. Inside the ship, Pete was whistling behind the steering wheel. Cloud and Auron would have told him to stop, but they were almost in awe with his piloting skills.

"Well Pete I have to admit, I didn't expect you would be such a good pilot," Auron said. Pete cringed a bit and whistled off key. He hadn't forgotten the first time he had met Auron, when he (Pete) was told that the strange man was, "The mother of all bad guys."

"I used to be a steamboat captain, and was the King's Admiral when ol' Disney Castle was first built…but then I got banished," Pete replied, "Really ain't much difference between this and a boat."

"Are we getting close yet," Cloud asked.

"Just a few minutes, that's it up ahead," Pete answered. Sure enough, Radiant Gardens was growing larger.

"So tell me Pete, why were you banished?" Auron asked, "If you don't mind my asking, of course." Pete shot him a quick look, clearly too frightened to decline. Auron seemed to notice this, "Don't believe whatever Hades told you about me. I may not be a hero, but I'm not a villain." Pete seemed to relax a little.

"Well it all started shortly after my promotion as Admiral of the King's Navy. Not a very big fleet, and I was put in charge of a bunch of dunderheads, really. That and the fact that we never really had much use for the Navy, you know? Hate to admit it, but I got jealous of the King…still am, come to think of it. Wasn't fair really, getting one upped by my old deck hand like that. I challenged the King for the throne, game of cards. He beat me fair and square."

"Was that why you were banished?" Cloud asked, "For challenging the King?"

"Nah," Pete said while deftly turning the Gummi around an asteroid, "little pipsqueak wouldn't a' kicked anyone out for something like that. Got in trouble for it though. I cheated, couple of aces up the ol' sleeve. I got banished for trying to take the kingdom over myself shortly after with the help of my crew, bunch of stupid weasels."

"Stupid weasels?" Cloud inquired, "You mean they ratted you out to the king?"

"Course not," Pete said, "They were literally stupid weasels."

"Why take over the kingdom?" Auron asked, "Did you think you could run it better?"

"HA!" Pete laughed, "I didn't think I could, I KNEW I could. And to be honest, it's just in my nature to start a little trouble every now and then. Heck, I don't think the King would have banished me if it would have just been me and the weasels. Probably would'a thrown me in jail for a while. But once I got the heartless involved, that was a different matter."

"Heartless?" Cloud asked him gravely.

"Yup. First time I ever did it. I was rallying up the weasels, see, and my speech must have filled their hearts with greed and darkness cause one by one they turned over. I found that the heartless weasels would do just about whatever I asked 'em to. Turned a few more people, town folk, and then went to the castle. I didn't realize the key blade was so deadly to Heartless, of course. Mickey made short work of them, and then he had ol' Yen Sid Banish me to the realm of Darkness. Maleficent learned of my ability to turn people into Heartless and rescued me a few years later. Been working for her ever since."

"Why though, Pete?" Cloud asked, "She doesn't appear to even like you. Why work for her?"

"She did me a huge favor, rescuing me like that, figured I ought to repay her. Not to mention she woulda turned me into raw hamburger if I declined. And heck, I was still mad at the King for banishing me like that so I figured it would be a great way to finally take over the castle. Now hush up for a minute, landing these things can be tricky sometimes." Pete swiftly went into a dive and broke the atmosphere. Pulling the Gummi level, he coasted into the hanger with relative ease. A nice, soft landing.

They exited the gummi and started walking through town. They saw the local shops run by Donald Duck's nephews, and beyond them was old Scrooge McDuck, Donald's uncle (who was looking after the boys). He gave a jump when he saw Pete.

"Well," He said angrily. The relation to Donald was uncanny as he stamped a foot down, "If it ain't Admiral Pete. When'd they let you out, you great oaf?"

"Nice to see you too Scroogie," Pete said, "I'll have you know I'm on a mission for the King himself. With these two, of course," he added pointing back at Cloud and Auron.

"Back in the good books, are yeh?" Scrooge asked him, "Didn't think that'd happen, I must admit. The King was a might upset about what yeh did all those years ago."

"Well it's kinda a big problem, and it seems I'm directly involved in one way or another," Pete replied, "They had to let me in on it. Speaking of which, gotta ask ya Scrooge, anyone in these parts got a keyblade?"

"Only person I ever saw round here with a keyblade was Sora," Scrooge answered, "But I haven't seen him in a while, to be honest."

"Well, thanks anyway," Pete said, "Suppose we better look around town then. Be a lot easier if we actually knew who we was looking for."

"I do," Cloud said, grimly "Follow me."

Pete and Auron glanced at each other quickly, and then followed. They worked their way to Merlin's house and Cloud opened the door. The blonde haired airship pilot and mechanic Cid answered the door, a cigarette in his mouth.

"Oh jeez Cloud," Cid said with a smile, "Thought you were that mad ol' wizard. He don't like it when I smoke in here. Your mission for the king over?"

"Just started," Cloud answered, "Where's Leon at? I need to ask him something."

"I think he headed up to the Bailey," Cid answered, "He's changed a little. Actually smiles once in a while, now that the town's back to the way it used to be. Could learn a few lessons from him, bud."

"Thanks Cid," Cloud said, and turned around. He stopped, looked back and said, "Be sure to tell Tifa I said hi, would you?"

"Sure will," Cid replied, "But you know what? You ought to do that yourself."

"See you later, Cid." Cloud replied. They headed towards the Bailey.

* * *

"I'm just sayin' that if the dame likes you, you oughta go with it. You'll never know if you don't give it a shot, right?"

"Pete," Cloud said calmly, "Shut up. Now." Pete became silent, but looked over at Auron and winked. Auron gave him a smirk as they rounded a corner and turned into the Bailey. There was no sign of Leon anywhere.

"Think he's further in?" Pete asked.

"Probably," Cloud said, "Might be good to split up and look for him. He's about as tall as I am, he's got brown hair, and a scar that runs down the right side of his face…" Cloud was suddenly cut off by the sound of shouting, and bangs. It was coming from the Dark Depths.

"That's probably him," Cloud said, "Let's go, it sounds like he's in trouble." They took off at a run towards the Dark Depths, but as they made it to the Great Maw, they suddenly saw what was making the commotion. Leon was being attacked by an extremely large group of heartless of all sorts, and among them were hooded figures wearing strange masks. Cloud, Auron, and Pete would have thought they were Organization 13 members, except that they knew that Sora had defeated them all, as well as Organization 13 members didn't wear masks. Leon was wielding a keyblade that looked remarkably like a gun blade.

"Suppose we oughta help him, huh?" Pete asked. As if to answer his question, his, Auron's, and Cloud's key blades all materialized. They dashed forward and joined the fray.

"About time you showed up," Leon said to Cloud as he sent heartless flying into the wall of the maw with the flat of his blade, "I've just about finished here."

"Just about finished?" Cloud said, "How many have you killed already?"

"Twice this many heartless," Leon answered, "The cloaked ones call themselves Death Eaters. They keep summoning more and more heartless, and they also know some pretty harsh spells. I've only managed to get one of them. Who're your friends?"

"Let's save introductions for later," Auron said, "We have a battle to finish." He swept his blade into the air and brought it down on a large Neoshadow, killing it instantly. The air was soon full of hearts returning to Kingdom Hearts as the four warriors made short work of their adversaries. At one point, Leon was surrounded and about to be skewered, but Pete appeared in the nick of time, a protective ball of energy surrounding him, and collided with enough of them that Leon was able to concentrate on the rest without fear. On the other side of the Maw, Cloud was swiftly battling one of the strange Death Eaters with little success. Every time he brought his sword down, the strange magician would disappear and reappear a short distance away and cast a spell towards Cloud, who would then barely have time to deflect it with his blade before countering. At one point, a second Death Eater joined their fray and sent a jet of green light towards Cloud, who didn't see it coming. But he was saved by Auron, who casted a shield around Cloud and took on the second Death Eater. Auron turned to Cloud.

"Are you ready?" Auron asked.

"Whenever you are," was Cloud's answer. They took off, each attacking identically and swiftly. One moment, they spinning, making blind sword strokes, and the next they were nearly flying towards their enemies, skewering them. After nine successive hits, their foes went down. Cloud and Auron landed, and Auron smiled.

"We'll have to come up with a name for that," he replied.

"Omni-shido?" Cloud suggested with almost a hint of a smile.

The Death Eaters apparently realized they were out matched.

"RETREAT!" One of them yelled through his mask, "The Dark Lord will hear of this, we assure you!"

"Wait!" Cloud started running towards the man, "What Dark Lord? Are you talking about Voldemort?" But the Death eater only stared at him for a moment, and then disappeared, along with all the remaining heartless and the other Death Eaters. Cloud turned to Leon.

"Leon, what happened here? Why were they attacking you?"

"No one calls me Leon anymore, now that the town has gone back to the way it was I've gone back to using my real name." Cloud raised an eyebrow.

"Which is?" he asked.

"Squall Leonhart," Squall answered, "And they appeared and attacked me about five seconds after I aquired this," he held up his key blade. "I see you all have one, so maybe you could tell me what's going on here."

They introduced each other and explained their situation to Squall, when they had finished, Squall asked, "So we're supposed to go to the other worlds and find anyone else who might have one?"

"That's right," Pete said, "And I suppose after we gather 'em all up we're gonna have to take on this Voldy-more guy."

"It's Voldemort," Auron corrected him, "And yes we will."

"Why isn't Sora with you, and his friend? I thought they would be front and center for this mission." Squall asked.

"They've got their own project," Cloud answered, "I'm not sure how long it will take them, but there's a good chance they, and the King, will join us before the end."

"We should probably get movin'," Pete said, "If those guys attacked you that fast, who knows how long we got before the next guy gets attacked."

"Pete's right," Squall said, "Let's hurry." They headed back into town.

* * *

OtO: The name of this chapter is a play on Cloud and Squall. I hope you got it, now that the chapter's over. More to come soon.


	17. Kingdom Come

Chapter 17: Kingdom Come

It was a beautiful day in the Mushroom Kingdom. The sun was out, birds were chirping, and there was a slight breeze that made the fire flowers sway. Princess Peach was walking through her garden with her lady in waiting, Daisy. They had come out to check on the process of the new garden, and to compliment the bub-ulbs in charge of the new addition to the castle.

"It really is fantastic," Peach said, "The Prince will really enjoy it when he returns."

"We're almost finished," the chief gardener, Bulliber, replied, "Just that last section over there. We have something really special planned for it. All of the extra workers have really helped."

"Extra workers?" Daisy asked, "I don't remember you assigning any, Princess. Who are you talking about Bulliber?"

"Those guys over there," Bulliber replied nodding his head towards the unfinished section. A group of little people in red shirts and white goggles hard at work arranging flowers. "Called themselves the X-Naut Flower Brigade or something to that extent."

"Hmmm," Peach replied, "I honestly do not remember assigning them. I don't even recognize them." The group walked over to the X-Naut Flower Brigade. "Excuse me," Peach replied tapping one of them on the shoulder, "May I ask who you are?"

The little man jumped around and folded his arms into an X pattern on his chest, "Sure thing, dudette, I mean Princess. Princess Dudette…anyway…we're the X-Naut Flower Brigade. We met the Prince a while back on our world and he gave us a few coins to drop by here and lend a hand to the decorating."

"Oh, Mario sent you here?" Daisy asked smiling. If the Prince sent them here, then that meant he was ok.

"Even when he's out on a mission the Prince can be so thoughtful," Peach said, "I hope he returns soon."

"Yeah, yeah," the X-Naut said hastily, "Really nice dude and all. But we gotta get back to work here ladies, if you don't mind."

"Of course not," Peach said politely, "We'll get out of your way now." They walked back towards the castle. When they had gotten a safe distance away, a hatch opened from in the ground where the Princess had been standing. A larger X-Naut dressed in a purple hat with horns jumped out.

"Whew," the big X-Naut said, "Talk about your close shaves. If the Princess had found out about us, Grodus would have all of our heads."

"You said it," The smaller X-Naut said, "I'm just glad you had the sense to listen before opening the hatch, Lord Crump."

The Bigger X-Naut, Lord Crump started laughing, "Buh huh huh huh! Yeah, me too. Good improv on your part, X-Naut. Now we have their trust. The Prince send us? Not in a million years. Buh huh huh huh huh. Well, I gotta get back below, the mighty Koopa Koot is gonna have a tantrum if I don't report on our espionage status. And with that, Pow! I'm gone!" He ducked back into the hole. The X-Naut began gardening again.

* * *

The next day was the big unveiling of the Fire Garden. The total arrangement made one giant fire flower out of many smaller fire flowers. It was quite a sight to behold and the Princess was quite proud of all the workers involved, even the strangely behaved X-Nauts (who seemed to avoid being talked to for some reason). The Princess was seated in a chair on a veranda hooked to the castle, beside her was Daisy. They were waiting for Bulliber to come up and make a speech, but he appeared to be late. If he was any later, Peach would have to make a speech herself, which worried her a little bit, because she had not prepared one.

After a while, Bulliber still had not appeared and Peach decided to not let the crowd of people down. She went to get up but shortly before she could, she heard a strange laugh coming from nowhere.

"Gack Ack Ack Ack!"

Then there was a small rumbling, and the floor right underneath and behind the microphone split apart neatly, leaving a large hole. A large, seemingly robotic man who looked like one of the X-Nauts only much larger and much more prominent appeared. He seemed to prefer the color blue, and his hat looked as though it had a computer brain programmed into it. He had a copious amount of white beard and mustache that made his face indistinguishable.

"Greetings," he said, "I am called Grodus, leader of the X-Nauts. We will be taking this kingdom for our own now."

Peach jumped out of her chair and ran up to this strange man, "Excuse me!? I'm not sure if I heard you correctly, but this Kingdom is run by myself and Prince Mario and we won't be letting someone like you taking it over!" Daisy remained sitting, clearly shocked at what was happening. Peach had seen Bowser do something like this so often that it didn't even come across as a shock. The most surprising thing about it was that it was someone new this time, not Bowser.

She should have realized that not every one is as obvious or dull witted with their plans as Bowser. Shortly after rising from her chair, Grodus turned swiftly and swung a large (also computerized, by the look of it) staff. A ball of green energy surrounded the princess and she couldn't escape from it.

"My dear Princess," Grodus replied eying her sinisterly, "Please don't do anything that would force me to hurt you. You see, you are still very much a part of the festivities to follow, and we need you whole." He pulled out a communicator and spoke into it, "Ground to Air, ready for pick up, over."

"Roger that," A gruff and somehow familiar voice said from the speaker, "Rendezvous in thirty seconds."

Grodus pocketed the communicator and said, "He's early, good work. This teamwork thing pays off sometimes. I'll have to try it more often."

Daisy had found her courage, and so apparently had the audience. They had all risen as one ready to take on the mysterious Grodus. Noticing this, he waved his staff again, and the bubble flew right into Daisy. Instead of knocking her over, she fell inside of it, and was trapped with the Princess. A brave Goomba stepped forward ready to attack.

"You'll never get away with them!" the Goomba screamed, "We won't let you!"

Just then two very big things happened at once. First and formost, the Goomba was drowned out by a loud roaring sound. An enormous ship was falling out of the sky right towards them. Right when it looked like it was going to hit the garden, it stopped and merely hung in mid air, right above Grodus and the trapped women. If the crowd in the garden thought that things couldn't get worse, they were sorely mistaken as Bowser, King of the Koopas leaned over the side of the ship and bellowed, "HURRY UP GRODUS!" Grodus pulled out a transmitter with a single button. He pushed it and chuckled as he floated up towards the ship, the women trapped in the bubble following him. The crowd began to attack, but before they had so much as uttered a battle cry, the floor beneath them began to split. It was opening up wide, as if to eat them. A few goombas and a spiny had already fallen in, and it was unclear how far down the pit went. The crowd lost their minds and began scrabbling as one towards the sides of the garden. The walls were too high to climb. There were some flying people, such as paragoombas, paratroopas, lakitus, and more, but they were not enough to save the Princess and Lady in Waiting, and they were busy trying to save as many people from falling into the pit as possible.

Grodus and Bowser shared a laugh as they zoomed away with their prizes.

* * *

Cackletta was seated at the head of a large table, around which a few of the other villains were seated, prominent among them was Ganondorf, who was in no hurry to find the princess he needed to.

Suddenly, a large screen appeared from nowhere. Bowser and Grodus were on it.

"Hag, we have the two princesses and are en route to your location."

"Good work Lizard," Cackletta replied, "We shall see you soon." She looked over at Ganondorf and smiled.

"I love it when a plan falls together so well, don't you?" She asked. He gave her a brief smile and left the room to make start making preparations.


End file.
